The Golden Globe nominations 2022 are here. See the two music categories nominees below.

Best Original Score, Motion Picture:

Alexandre Desplat, 'The French Dispatch'

Germaine Franco, 'Encanto'

Jonny Greenwood, 'The Power of the Dog'

Alberto Iglesias, 'Parallel Mothers'

Hans Zimmer, 'Dune'

Best Original Song, Motion Picture:

'Be Alive', from 'King Richard'

'Dos Oruguitas', from 'Encanto'

'Down to Joy', from 'Belfast'

'Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)', from 'Respect'

'No Time to Die', from 'No Time to Die'

Universal Music Group has inked an expansive global partnership with “avatar technology company” Genies to develop avatars and digital wearables for some of the world’s most influential and successful recording artists including Justin Bieber, J Balvin, Rihanna, Shawn Mendes and Migos. UMG and Genies will equip artists “with official virtual identities for use in Web 3.0 and the shifting age of the Internet”. Music Business Worldwide brings the whole story.

Mitski shares 'Heat Lightning' gentle yet haunting waltz; Bon Iver and Nicholas Britell share 'Second Nature' from the movie 'Don’t Look Up', Adam McKay’s new satire about three scientists trying to warn the world about an incoming comet; Zannie shares their first single ‘Mechanical Bull’, a beautiful piece of folk music.

The Ringer has made a selection of the 50 best soundtracks from the past 50 years, with only pure soundtracks permitted - no scores. An interesting selection, from '8 Mile' to 'Purple Rain'.

"Tate was celebrated for his work analyzing Black artistry and influence, and he was at the front of the first wave of journalism documenting the birth of hip-hop. While working at The Village Voice from 1987 to 2003, Tate explored the burgeoning aesthetics, influences, and values of hip-hop, contextualizing it within both Black creative lineages and white-dominated spaces of popular culture" - Pitchfork wrote after the news of Greg Tate's passing at 64. Greg kick-started a band as a music critic - "I invented a band I wanted to hear but could not find. Three guitars two drummers two basses a flute one trumpet one alto two cellos one violin three singers acoustic piano synths turntables triangles laptops optional and a partridge family in a pear tree. Five years later this band still follows the teachings of Shelley Manne: never play anything the same way once".

"Take a close look at this year’s truly brilliant album releases and you might just conclude that the last 12 months have been all about pushing things forward while taking stock of the past" - NME introduces its selection of 50 best albums of 2021. Here are the Top 10:

10. Olivia Rodrigo - ‘Sour’

9. Turnstile - ‘Glow On’

8. Halsey - ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’

7. Arlo Parks - ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’

6. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - ‘Carnage’

5. Tyler, the Creator - ‘Call Me If You Get Lost’

4. Self Esteem - ‘Prioritise Pleasure’

3. Wolf Alice - ‘Blue Weekend’

2. Little Simz - ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’

1. Sam Fender - ‘Seventeen Going Under’

"Much of this year’s best electronic music, both on and off the dancefloor, attempted to channel the mixed emotions of the present day. Loraine James, Space Afrika, Perila, Muqata’a, the Bug—all of them reminded us that electronic music can also be a vehicle for contemplation, sorrow, and even fury, while simultaneously testing the possibilities of their chosen forms" - Pitchfork says introducing its selection of 35 best electronic albums of 2021.

An interesting story in Consequence about the new ViroMusic project, which used a computer process called DNA Sonification which hunted through COVID-19’s genetic code, looking for stretches of the RNA that could be translated to music. An algorithm converted that RNA into musical notes and then turned those songs into NFTs.

"Breakout artists like L’Rain, Dry Cleaning, and Arooj Aftab put themselves on the map and set high expectations for whatever they do next. Favorites like Jazmine Sullivan, Low, and the Weather Station moved from the margins into the spotlight with career-best releases. More than ever, great music was there to be found if you looked hard enough" - Pitchfork presents its list of 50 best albums of 2021. Here are their top 10:

10. Dry Cleaning: 'New Long Leg'

9. Playboi Carti: 'Whole Lotta Red'

8. Mdou Moctar: 'Afrique Victime'

7. The Weather Station: 'Ignorance'

6. Turnstile: 'Glow On'

5. Low: 'HEY WHAT'

4. Floating Points / Pharoah Sanders / The London Symphony Orchestra: 'Promises'

3. Tyler, the Creator: 'Call Me If You Get Lost'

2. L’Rain: 'Fatigue'

1. Jazmine Sullivan: 'Heaux Tales'

"Sometimes even when things go right, you feel drained and empty, and that's ok. I had a great show at LPR with my band, but in the week that followed I didn't feel great" - music theorist and band-leader Adam Neely announces his latest video, about the feeling of emptiness after the show.

"The year’s best albums built idea on idea, theme on theme, one track at a time. Some explored the heaviness of life and death, and others provided us with all the joy we were missing from the world at large. What they have in common is an awareness of how to place a thought next to another thought, building in richness and complexity" - Consequence introduces its Top 50 albums of 2021 list. Here are their top 10:

10. illuminati hotties – 'Let Me Do One More'

9. Armand Hammer, The Alchemist – 'Haram'

8. Lil Nas X – 'Montero'

7. Lil Nas X – 'Montero'

6. Lucy Dacus – 'Home Video'

5. Little Simz – 'Sometimes I Might Be Introvert'

4. Turnstile – 'GLOW ON'

3. Arlo Parks – 'Collapsed in Sunbeams'

2. Japanese Breakfast – 'Jubilee'

1. Tyler, the Creator – 'CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST'

"In another trying year, many of the best songs were about picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, and trying again" - Pitchfork writes introducing its selection of this year's 100 best songs. Interesting choices between Halsey's 'I am not a woman, I’m a god' and Caroline Polachek's 'Bunny Is a Rider'. Rolling Stone also unveiled its selection of best songs of 2021, 50 of them. Twice's 'The Feels' and Wizkid's 'Essence' enclose the list.

Dave took home best album awards for his second record, 'We're All Alone In This Together' at this year's Mobo Awards, NME reports. Rapper Little Simz won best female, in recognition of her triumphant third album, 'Sometimes I Might Be Introvert'. Ghetts took home best male Mobo. Central Cee was named best newcomer, while Nigeria's Wizkid was named best international act.

Adele’s new album '30' spends a second week atop the Billboard 200 albums chart, as the set earned 288,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 2, Billboard reports. Her new set logs the largest second week for an album in over three years. Elsewhere in the top 10, Michael Bublé’s former No. 1 'Christmas' surges 9-3, while Vince Guaraldi Trio’s soundtrack to the TV special 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' returns to the top 10, bounding 21-10.

The early birds of Rolling Stone have made a selection of the best albums of 2021. Not so retro list actually, and plenty of various artists between St. Vincent and her 'Daddy's Home', and Olivia Rodrigo's 'Sour'. Check the full list here.

Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, drummer Tom Skinner and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich have formed a new band called the Smile. This week, the band took to Instagram Live to livestream footage of them rehearsing some of their songs, quite psychedelic and slightly rave-y.

Bad Bunny has been named the most-streamed artist in the world on Spotify in 2021, for the second year in a row, Music Business Worldwide reports. Bad Bunny has received over 9.1 billion streams in 2021 so far, achieving that tally without even having released an album this year. Last year, he had received over 8.3 billion streams on Spotify by December 1.

Between 2014 and 2016, Omicron was the name of an underground prog-metal band based in Hong Kong. The quartet only played a handful of gigs and weren’t around long enough to release an album. But thanks to a macabre coincidence - on Nov. 26, the World Health Organization announced the name Omicron for the latest Covid-19 variant - the Hong Kong band is suddenly getting some of the attention they missed out on during their existence. “Whether for the right or wrong reasons, we’ve been getting clicks” says guitarist Li Heng Chan of the defunct Hong Kong prog-metal outfit to Rolling Stone. “It’s been a lot to process”.

Mötley Crüe have inked a new deal to sell their entire recorded music catalog to BMG. Mötley Crüe acquired their masters back from label Elektra in the late Nineties for a reported $10 million. As Music Business Worldwide's sources indicate, the Mötley Crüe acquisition lands firmly in the high eight-figure region - somewhere around $90 million.

Singer and entrepreneur Rihanna has been awarded a national honour from her homeland Barbados as the Caribbean country celebrated becoming a republic Monday, CNN reports. Rihanna, who grew up in the island nation, witnessed the historic ceremony that broke Barbados’s centuries-old ties with the British monarchy and swore in its first president Dame Sandra Mason, ending the Queen’s role as head of state. "May you continue to shine like a diamond and bring honor to your nation by your works, by your actions and to do credit wherever you shall go"  - Barbadian prime minister Mia Mottley told the crowd.

Adele’s new album ’30’ blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with 839,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 25, debuting with the largest week of 2021 for any album. Album sales comprise 692,000, making it easily the largest sales week of the year for any album. Further, '30' is the biggest-selling album of the entire year with 692,000 in sales, surpassing the total sales of any album over the past 11 months combined, Billboard reports.

Defcee & Messiah Musik share ‘Shortcuts’, a bit of left-of-the-field smooth and saucy rap; Ghostface Killah and Raekwon drop a minimalist and psychedelic collaboration ‘Bob James Freestyle’; interesting song by producer Daedelus and poet Joshua Idehen, an ephemeral and haunting electronic spoken-word ‘Standing in My Own Way’; Sevdaliza shares a cold and rhythmical, industrial even ‘The Great Hope Design’.

Adele's new album '30' has shot to number one at the UK Official Charts, overtaking Abba to become the fastest-selling album of the year so far. '30' has 261,000 sales, compared to the Swedish pop group's comeback album 'Voyage', which opened with 204,000 sales. However, Adele's previous album '25', released in 2015, opened with 800,000 first-week sales.

One of Broadway’s most renowned and prolific songwriters, Stephen Sondheim has died aged 91, CNN reports. Sondheim is perhaps best known for writing the lyrics to legendary Broadway musicals 'West Side Story' and 'Gypsy'. Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics to a slew of musicals, and has over the course of his long career, won eight Tony awards, eight Grammys, and an Oscar.

Nell Smith, a 14-year-old girl from Leeds, and psychedelic heroes The Flaming Lips have unveiled their new album 'Where the Viaduct Looms', with nine Nick Cave covers. It all started three years ago when Smith became an instantly-recognizable regular at Flaming Lips shows thanks to her penchant for wearing a parrot costume, Consequence reports.

Nine in 10 UK musicians were earning less than £1,000 per month, and 22% were considering giving up music altogether, according to UK charity Help Musicians which made a survey among 929 musicians in August. One-third of musicians were still earning nothing after restrictions on live events were lifted this summer, according to Help Musicians, BBC reports.

The Weeknd's 'Blinding Lights' is the new No. 1 song on Billboard's Greatest Songs of all Time Hot 100 Chart. Billboard talked to The Weeknd and his collaborators to see how they made history. "There was nothing we had heard like that before from Abel" - Monte Lipman of Republic Records says. Yep, it was something different.

Earl Sweatshirt shares ephemeral and groovy ‘2010’; a lovely folk rock song ‘How Could I Have Known’ by Companion; Ibeyi brings R&B, neo-soul, jazz, and Cuban folk music into 'Made of Gold' featuring Pa Salieu; Tokyo screamo band Lang shares a ripper ‘Forget me Not’; Eddie Vedder’s new song ‘The Haves’ is just - Pearl Jam singer singing those lovely songs of his!; Singapore's Naedr share an extended version of ‘Asunder’ with added strings; Nick Cave & Warren Ellis share ‘We Are Not Alone’ from documentary ‘La Panthére des Neiges’ which follows wildlife photographer Vincent Munier and novelist Sylvain Tesson as they explore the valleys of the Tibetan plateau for unique animals.