business
Travis Scott Bringing ‘Road to Utopia’ Residency to Zouk Nightclub in Las Vegas
Travis Scott will return to the stage Sept. 17 with the first of seven appearances at Zouk Nightclub inside Resorts World Las Vegas. Described by representatives as a multi-year partnership, an additional date of Oct. 15 is also on sale. A statement from Resorts World describes “Road to Utopia” as a “mind-bending, first-of-its-kind nightclub residency experience,” taking advantage of the venue’s technological prowess. The lighting system, known as Mothership, produces a kaleidoscope of visuals as it moves to the music, floating above the dance floor. Advanced sound from an L-Acoustics-driven system powers the audio. The experience changes nightly to meet the headlining artist’s specifications. “Travis plans to utilize all of this to his advantage,” says Ronn Nicolli, chief marketing office...
Sony Lowers PlayStation 5 Game Sales Profit Projections by 16% For 2022
Sony has significantly readjusted its profit projections for its PlayStation 5 games sales across 2022, posting a 16% reduction in its latest quarterly financial report. Citing “an expected decrease in sales of first-party titles” and the expenditure attributed to its recent acquisition of Bungie, the Japanese gaming giant revised its profit forecast down from $2.3 billion USD back in May last year to now $1.9 billion USD for the year of 2022. Overall, the company sold just 47.1 million titles over the quarter with 6.4 million of those being first-party games, a significant decline compared to the same period last year which saw 63.6 million games sold, 10.5 million of which were first-party. As for PS5 console sales, the company hasn’t adjusted its forecast just yet, but Sony has only shi...
Mark Vaughan to Lead Live Nation’s Promoter Team For Australia and NZ
Mark Vaughan lands at Live Nation, where he leads the promoter team for Australia and New Zealand as vice president – talent and artist development. With effect from Monday (Aug. 1), Vaughan works alongside LN’s existing promoter team to continue to “best serve artists as they hit the road,” reads a statement welcoming the new recruit. The Australian concerts veteran has spent much of his career in Europe, where he served as partner/promoter at Norway’s All Things Live, said to be the largest independent concert promoter in the Nordics. At the Oslo-based live music specialist, he worked with such artists as Rammstein, Justin Bieber, Twenty-One Pilots, Kendrick Lamar, Green Day, Shawn Mendes, Lorde and others. “For a long time I have been closely following the live market in Australia and N...
Charles Schwab’s asset management arm launches crypto-linked ETF
Schwab Asset Management, the asset management arm of financial giant Charles Schwab, has launched an exchange-traded fund (ETF) with exposure to firms linked to cryptocurrencies. In a Friday announcement, Schwab said its Crypto Thematic ETF was expected to be available for trading on the New York Stock Exchange’s Arca under the ticker STCE on Aug. 4. The fund tracks Schwab’s Crypto Thematic Index, providing an investment vehicle with exposure to companies “that may benefit from the development or utilization of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.” Likely because the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, has not given the green light to ETFs providing direct exposure to Bitcoin (BTC), the Schwab fund will indirectly invest in crypto through companies. Schwab...
Pro-Russian groups raised only 4% of crypto donations sent to Ukraine
According to data from crypto analytics firm Chainalysis, users have sent more than $2 million in crypto to 54 pro-Russian groups since Feb. 24, a fraction of that received by many wallets controlled by the Ukrainian government. In a Friday blog post, Chainalysis said it had tracked funds sent to social media accounts controlled by pro-Russian groups in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), USDT-TRX, and Dogecoin (DOGE) starting with the country’s invasion of Ukraine in February. According to Chainalysis’ data, users sent roughly $2.2 million to the pro-Russian groups, with more than $1 million going to a single unnamed account. While there may be other groups outside of Chainalysis’ investigation of those supporting pro-Russian forces, the available data suggested that the $2.2 mill...
Netflix Sues ‘Unofficial Bridgerton Musical’ Creators Days After Sold-Out Live Show
Days after musicians Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear performed their Grammy-winning Unofficial Bridgerton Musical to a sold-out audience at the Kennedy Center, Netflix is suing them for “blatant infringement” of the company’s rights to the popular period drama. In a complaint filed Friday (July 29) in D.C. federal court, Netflix accused the duo of piggybacking on “the creative work and hard-earned success” of hundreds of artists and staffers behind Bridgerton – using the company’s copyrights and trademarks without permission to build a “brand for themselves.” “Netflix owns the exclusive right to create Bridgerton songs, musicals, or any other derivative works based on Bridgerton,” the company wrote. “Barlow & Bear cannot take that right—made valuable by others’ hard work—for th...
The Ledger: Spotify’s Paul Vogel Is Cautiously Optimistic on Growth
The Ledger is a weekly newsletter about the economics of the music business sent to Billboard Pro subscribers. An abbreviated version of the newsletter is published online. Music executives are balancing optimism about streaming growth with caution about the state of the economy and future growth. As we reported Wednesday, Spotify had a solid second quarter, finishing with 188 million subscribers — 1 million ahead of its guidance., It also reached 433 million total monthly listeners — 5 million above its guidance. Beating guidance helped Spotify shares climb 12.2% to $116.61 on Wednesday, its highest mark since June 24. In the second quarter, Spotify’s subscription growth was led by Europe and Latin America, while emerging markets such as India, Indonesia and the Philippines were standouts...
Netflix Sues ‘Unofficial Bridgerton Musical’ Creators Days After Sold-Out NYC Live Show
Days after musicians Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear performed their Grammy-winning Unofficial Bridgerton Musical to a sold-out audience at the Kennedy Center, Netflix is suing them for “blatant infringement” of the company’s rights to the popular period drama. In a complaint filed Friday (July 29) in D.C. federal court, Netflix accused the duo of piggybacking on “the creative work and hard-earned success” of hundreds of artists and staffers behind Bridgerton – using the company’s copyrights and trademarks without permission to build a “brand for themselves.” “Netflix owns the exclusive right to create Bridgerton songs, musicals, or any other derivative works based on Bridgerton,” the company wrote. “Barlow & Bear cannot take that right—made valuable by others’ hard work—for th...
CoinFLEX announces staff cuts as part of measures to reduce costs by up to 60%
Cryptocurrency exchange CoinFLEX said it had downsized a “significant number” of team members in an effort to cut operating costs. According to a Friday blog post, CoinFLEX said it had cut some staff across “all departments and geographies” as part of measures to reduce the company’s costs by 50% to 60%. The majority of the remaining team members will focus on product and technology, and the exchange said it would consider scaling as “volume comes back.” “The intention is to remain right-sized for any entity considering a potential acquisition of or partnership opportunity with CoinFLEX,” said the exchange. On Saturday, CoinFLEX halted withdrawals after an unnamed party reportedly failed to meet a $47 million margin call. CEO Mark Lamb later took to Twitter to confirm rumors that CoinFLEX ...
Britney Spears Won’t Have to Sit for a Deposition in Legal Battle With Dad, Judge Rules
A Los Angeles judge sided with Britney Spears on Wednesday (July 27) and rejected her father’s demand that she sit for a deposition. At a hearing Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Judge Brenda Penny finalized her earlier tentative decision to deny a request from attorneys for Jamie Spears to depose his daughter amid ongoing litigation over his alleged misconduct during her controversial 13-year legal conservatorship. Britney’s attorney, Mathew Rosengart, argued there was no reason for the pop star to face a deposition in the case, and called it an act of revenge by her father and his lawyers. “Whether he believes it or accepts it, what she went through under him [was traumatic]. What would a decent dad do? He would say, ‘That’s my daughter, I love my daughter,’” Rosengart said...
Rap on Capitol Hill: Proposed Federal Law Would Ban Lyrics From Criminal Cases
A proposed law introduced in Congress on Tuesday (July 27) would heavily restrict when federal prosecutors can cite rap lyrics as evidence during a criminal case, mirroring recent efforts in California and New York to limit the increasingly controversial practice. Introduced by U.S. Reps. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), the Restoring Artistic Protection Act (RAP Act) would sharply limit when any form of creative or artistic expression could be used as evidence against the person who created it. “Our judicial system disparately criminalizes Black and brown lives, including Black and brown creativity,” Bowman said in a statement announcing the bill. “We cannot imprison our talented artists for expressing their experiences nor will we let their creativity be suppressed.” The bi...
Billboard ChartStars and FEWOCiOUS Partner for Exclusive NFT Drop
Get ready for the drop! Billboard ChartStars has teamed with FEWOCiOUS for a colorful new NFT drop, arriving in full this Friday (July 29). This time, the 19-year-old artist has designed a full issue of Billboard Magazine, existing inside his FewoWorld and stuffed with Easter eggs and exclusive audio. The cover star is Mr. MiSUNDERSTOOD, one of FEWOCiOUS’ most popular characters. The special release will consist of 250 tokens sold at $250 each, with portions of the proceeds benefitting The Trevor Project, the suicide prevention and mental health organization for LGBTQ young people. It’s the second NFT collaboration between Billboard and FEWOCiOUS (aka Victor Langlois), who previously served as guest illustrator for the trade title’s annual Pride issue cover. NFT hunters can join the Twitte...
