INDUSTRY
House of Reps committee rejects aviation budget
The House of Representatives Committee on Aviation led by Rep. Nnolim Nnaji on Thursday refused to hold a budget session with the Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, and heads of the sector’s agencies. The infuriated lawmakers, said the won’t treat their budget, because they failed to present their 2021 proposals ahead of the scheduled date for defence. Ministries and heads of agencies, are customarily required to lay their proposals, days before the scheduled dates for defences. The chairman Nnaji in his opening remarks at the scheduled budget meeting with the Minister and the chief executives of the agencies, frowned at the failure of the Ministry to forward the documents as earlier request by the Committee. “Honourable Minister, I don’t know how you expect us to continue this meetin...
Spotify to Offer Algorithm Visibility Boost in Exchange for Royalty Cut
A new blog post published by Spotify revealed that creators will now have the ability to boost their visibility in the platform’s radio and autoplay algorithms. The post, which was shared on the streaming giant’s website, detailed the “new experiment.” In this new experiment, artists and labels can identify music that’s a priority for them, and our system will add that signal to the algorithm that determines personalized listening sessions. This allows our algorithms to account for what’s important to the artist—perhaps a song they’re particularly excited about, an album anniversary they’re celebrating, a viral cultural moment they’re experiencing, or other factors they care about. As reported by FADER, Spotify will not require any upfront payment, b...
German Courts Rule That Techno Club Nights are Concerts
After reading the title of this article you may find yourself asking: “Why was this decided by a court?” or “What does this decision mean?” Well, the fact of the matter is that this distinction represents a major victory for German club operators and their patrons. Under the old classification, club nights were not considered concerts in Germany. This meant that operators would have to pay 19% in taxes on ticket sales. Now, after being classified as concerts, they will only pay a 7% tax. It goes without saying why this is beneficial to the German nightlife industry and many have already begun celebrating the ruling. The decision was made on the basis of whether or not the “average” club attendee is actually there for the music. Unsurprisingly...
Richie Hawtin on Income Equality in Dance Music: “We’re Trying to Fix a Problem That We’ve Lost Control of”
Fabled techno producer and music entrepreneur Richie Hawtin recently opened up about the lack of income equality between DJs and producers in dance music. In a new interview with Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst for their “Interdependence” podcast, Hawtin delved into a number of timely issues in EDM, including crucial changes to the economic infrastructure of live DJ sets. “The driving force of this economic community is DJs. They are the ones making the money. They are the ones predominantly playing other people’s music,” Hawtin said. “We know that it’s not always going to the right people, and we know that now, after 30 years, there’s some other things that need to be put in place to assist this community from the past—where things we...
#EndSARS: Groups embark on reconciliatory visit to affected states
African Children Talent Discovery Foundation (ACTDF), an NGO, in Collaboration with Nigerians in Diaspora Mentoring Corp (NidMeCorp) have began nationwide reconciliatory visits to some states affected by the EndSARS protest. Founder of the foundation, Mr Noah Dallaji made the disclosure while addressing newsmen on Monday in Abuja, Dallaji said that the visit was for the sake of nation and collective wellbeing and to avoid further damage to lives and properties. He said the group visited to Lagos State due to the Lekki Tollgate incidents and met with various groups to find a lasting solution to the issues that were played up as aftermath of the #Endsars protest. He also said that the group met with stakeholders in the entertainment industry focusing on social media influencers to with vario...
Watch the Trailer for “Sisters With Transistors,” a Documentary About Female Electronic Music Pioneers
After experiencing a successful festival run, even picking up a Next Wave Award at CPH:DOX in March, the producers behind the upcoming documentary Sisters With Transistors have finally released a trailer for the anticipated feature-length film. Sisters With Transistors tells the untold story of the women who were integral to the creation of electronic music, many of whom created and engineered the technologies that have made modern dance music possible. The film, written and directed by Lisa Rovner and narrated by Laurie Anderson, last screened virtually at AFI Festival in October. However, it doesn’t yet have an official release date for the general public. Genre pioneers included in the doc include Clara Rockmore, Pauline Oliveros, Delia Derbysh...
Marshmello Moves to Stop L’Oréal from Registering “The Marsh Mellow” Trademark
Marshmello is unpredictable, to say the least, but a new submission by the producer to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board may provide insight into the plans for his next venture. L’Oréal received pushback from the masked music producer over the company’s request to trademark “The Marsh Mellow” for a forthcoming makeup-related product. The opposition brief alleges L’Oréal is not only using the phonetic equivalent of Marshmello’s name, but states they are infringing on the artist’s natural zone of expansion covered by his own trademark. At this point you may be wondering how a dance music producer could claim that a makeup brand is infringing on his business. The two industries are entirely unrelated. That’s where things get in...
Insomniac Acquires Promotional Company Club Glow and Venues Echostage and Soundcheck
Insomniac is taking gigantic steps to expand its footprint and influence on the east coast. The global events operator has announced the acquisition of dance music promoter Club Glow as well as venues Echostage and Soundcheck, based in Washington, DC. The acquisition, announced this week, was finalized in February of this year. The deal was reportedly to be announced at this year’s Winter Music Conference, which was ultimately cancelled. The deal will see Club Glow founding partner Pete Kalamoutsos continue to helm the company he helped establish back in 1999. Club Glow has built a thriving book of business that included 150 shows annually at Echostage alone prior to the pandemic. The massive club was the largest venue in DC when it opened in 2012. The company opened t...
The Music Industry Comes After Twitch’s Music Copyright Solution, “Soundtrack by Twitch”
Twitch‘s battle with the music industry is heating up as some of the industry’s biggest organizations representing copyright holders have penned a frustrated letter to the company. Twitch streamers have come under increased scrutiny this year due to the use of unlicensed music on the platform. A large increase in DMCA takedowns in July ultimately forced Twitch to react drastically, deleting infringing clips and encouraging streamers to do the same or otherwise risk a ban on their account. Shortly thereafter, Jeff Bezos—founder of Twitch’s parent company, Amazon—was questioned by Congress as to whether Twitch should license music, to which he replied, “I don’t know.” Twitch ultimately introduced a solution for the issue called “Soundtrack ...
Musician Union Launches Campaign to Demand Cent-Per-Stream Payouts by Spotify
A faction of US musicians has launched a vigorous campaign called “Justice at Spotify,” calling for the streaming giant to remit penny-per-stream payouts to artists, among other demands. The United Musicians and Allied Workers Union (UMAW) is crusading for major changes to Spotify’s business model, which they contend is responsible for artists being “underpaid, misled, and otherwise exploited” by the company, according to the organization’s website. “As Spotify’s valuation soars, we have seen no increase in our streaming payments,” the site reads. “The company’s closed-door contracts and payola schemes ensure that only musicians already on top with extensive resources can succeed on the platform. As COVID 19 economically devastates...
“Streaming Websites are Shameless”: Flux Pavilion Calls for Increased Artist Support
Due to the increased need for social distancing and reduced number of paid live performance opportunities, many artists big and small are struggling to stay afloat during the global health crisis. Not one to mince his words, fabled bass music producer Flux Pavilion recently took to Twitter to share how although millions of fans listen to his music, he receives little money from the streaming services that host it, such as Spotify. In a series of tweets, the dubstep icon called those streaming companies “shameless” and detailed his concerns about how difficult it is for artists to make money during the COVID-19-induced live music shutdown. “It just dawned on me that I spend every day writing music and millions of you listen to it, but next to none of th...
NERC: DISCOs collected N114 billion revenues in Q1 of 2020
The latest quarterly report issued by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, showed that a total of N114 billion was collected as revenue by the 11 electricity Distribution Companies, DISCOs, in the first quarter of 2020. The report also indicated that while the collection efficiency decreased considerably, the regulatory agency listed Abuja, Benin and Eko DISCOs as the companies with the most efficient collection systems. Meanwhile, the report which covered the first quarter of 2020 also showed that the country generated more electricity compared to the last quarter of 2019 with total electricity generated put at 8,613,998MWh, 6.33 per cent more than the energy generated during the preceding quarter. The regulatory agency noted that the collection efficiency implied that fo...
