R&B sensation The Weeknd released a snippet of music on Wednesday after hinting at a collaboration with reclusive French electronic duo Daft Punk. The Canadian singer, who a year ago burst into the mainstream with his Grammy-nominated album "The Beauty Behind the Madness," uploaded what appeared to be new music onto Instagram without further visuals or commentary. The track is driven by The Weeknd's distinctively wide-ranging R&B-tinged voice but with a light electronic accompaniment.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Elton John, Britney Spears, Alicia Keys and Calvin Harris are among the performers at this year’s Apple Music Festival.

Meanwhile, Michael Phelps and the Final 5 gymnasts are set to present at Sunday’s show.

The performance will join stage appearances from Britney Spears and G-Eazy, Ariana Grande with Nicki Minaj, Nick Jonas featuring Ty Dolla $ign, Future and Rihanna.

Her VMA appearances have included everything from a live tiger to a smooch with Madonna.

Yesterday reports surfaced about Universal Music Group possibly banning streaming exclusives entirely, but a new report by BuzzFeed’s Reggie Ugwu has revealed a more nuanced approach. An anonymous source close to the label confirmed Universal Music Group’s stance against giving extended exclusives to individual streaming platforms, but also cautioned that it doesn’t amount to a “blanket ban” against such agreements entirely. Indeed, Universal Music Group may be forced to make some difficult decisions in the future, should artists who are not entirely under its purview — such as Taylor Swift, who’s signed to independent partner Big Machine Records, and Cash Money’s Drake — continue to make agreements with the likes of Apple Music and cut UMG out almost entirely.

ATLANTA (AP) — Open your ears. What do you hear?

—It must be pure coincidence, but chef Diana Davila —who left Cantina 1910 in December— is back in the news days after her former restaurant permanently closed. Last year Reider launched his supper club, Pith from his Columbia University dorm room in New York.

Plus, get details about the latest from Lisa Hannigan, Ed Harcourt and more.

Celebrities perform “Fight Song” for a video played at the Democratic National Convention. It’s Hillary Clinton’s fight song, but some listeners don’t have a lot of fight left in them. Before and after the Democratic nominee takes the stage at rallies, her campaign inevitably plays the 2015 pop hit “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten.

(Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc is working on a music subscription service that would cost about $5 a month and would only work on its Echo hardware, tech news website Recode reported, citing sources. Amazon would like to launch the services in September, but has not finalized deals with major music labels and publishers, Recode reported. The Recode report said one sticking point, sources say, is whether Amazon will sell the cheaper service for $4 or $5 a month.

Our guide to this week's (and last week's) album releases also features the week's top new music videos from artists like Frank Ocean, Metallica, and Coldplay, plus brand new streaming music from Phantogram, Pixies, Earl Sweatshirt, Cass McCombs, and more. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at Metacritic