business
Judge Says NBA Youngboy Lyrics Can’t Be Used as Evidence as L.A. Gun Possession Trial Begins
Youngboy Never Broke Again (a.k.a. NBA Youngboy) scored a major victory on the opening day of his Los Angeles trial for firearms possession on Tuesday (July 12), with the judge ruling to exclude the use of the rapper’s lyrics as evidence, defense attorneys confirmed to Billboard. The decision by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner means prosecutors won’t be able to use lyrics from three Youngboy songs — “Lonely Child,” “Life Support” and “Gunsmoke” — to help convict the rapper (born Kentrell Gaulden), who’s charged with possession of a firearm after he was discovered with a loaded FNX-45 gun during a traffic stop in Tarzana, California on March 22, 2021. Among other lines, prosecutors had argued that the lyric “FN, Glock, MAC-10s” from “Gunsmoke” demonstrates the rapper’s “familiarity and...
Twitter Sues Elon Musk to Force Him to Complete $44B Acquisition
Twitter sued Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday, trying to force him to complete his $44 billion takeover of the social media company by accusing him of “outlandish” and “bad faith” actions that have caused the platform irreparable harm and “wreaked havoc” on its stock price. Back in April, Musk pledged to pay $54.20 a share for Twitter, which agreed to those terms after reversing its initial opposition to the deal. But the two sides have been bracing for a legal fight since the billionaire said Friday that he was backing away from his agreement to buy the company. Twitter’s lawsuit opens with a sharply-worded accusation: “Musk refuses to honor his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests.” “Having mounted a public spectacle...
Irv Gotti’s Murder, Inc. Signs Distribution Deal With 300 Elektra Entertainment
Irv Gotti‘s Murder Inc. and Kevin Liles‘ 300 Elektra Entertainment (3EE) have brokered a multi-year strategic distribution deal, Billboard has learned. Under the deal, which was signed Wednesday (July 6), 3EE will exclusively distribute physical and digital formats for Murder Inc.’s new recorded music. Additionally, Murder Inc. will be able to leverage 3EE’s marketing and promotion teams across more than 50 territories, thanks to the vast reach of 3EE’s parent company Warner Music Group. Gotti tells Billboard he’ll maintain ownership of Murder Inc.’s masters under the deal. “I’m excited to join forces with Kevin Liles again, as we take it back to our roots, where we generated over a billion dollars in revenue at Universal Music Group,” says Gotti, referencing Murder Inc.’s prior home at UM...
Three Men Charged With Trying to Sell Stolen Notes for Eagles’ ‘Hotel California’
Decades after Don Henley’s handwritten notes and lyrics for the Eagles album Hotel California were stolen, Manhattan prosecutors have indicted three men who they say tried to profit from the illicit materials. In a statement on Tuesday (July 12), Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. said he had charged Glenn Horowitz, 66, Craig Inciardi, 58, and Edward Kosinski, 59, with conspiracy over their efforts to resell and hide the origin of the stolen notes, which include material from “Hotel California” and other iconic songs from the band and are worth more than $1 million. Bragg said that Horowitz even stooped so low as to exploit the 2016 death of Eagles member Glenn Frey by claiming that Frey was the source of the artifacts – a claim he allegedly hoped could not be refuted by the l...
Spotify Acquires Music Trivia Game ‘Heardle’
Spotify has acquired Heardle, a music trivia game that challenges players to identify songs based on select snippets. Under the agreement, the free-to-play title will be available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. The game, which remains a standalone website, provides players with six guesses, in a similar fashion to The New York Times‘ Wordle. Once the answer is revealed at the end of the game, players will be able to listen to the full song exclusively on Spotify. Notably, Heardle previously linked music to SoundCloud. “We are always looking for innovative and playful ways to enhance music discovery and help artists reach new fans,” Jeremy Erlich, Spotify’s global head of music, said in a statement. “Heardle has proven to be a real...
Inside Superfly’s Web3-Powered Music Festival and How You Can Be a Part Of It
Superfly, Velvet Sea Ventures (VSV) and Tom Brady’s Autograph. io are officially unveiling their latest partnership: SuperNFTs. The project’s debut event will be SUPERF3ST, a community-built and Web3-powered music festival taking place in 2023. On Friday (July 15), 3,000 NFTs (dubbed SUPERPASS NFTs) will be minted and distributed to fans, who will in exchange receive the opportunity to help plan the upcoming festival as a SUPERF3ST Founder. SUPERPASS NFT owners will be a part of key decision-making moments from choosing a lineup to merchandise to location and more. Ahead of the minting, SuperNFT completed a $7 million Series A investment round with participation from JDS Sports, Art Blocks founder Erick Calderon (Snowfro), Pixel Vault, Inc. founder Sean Gearin (GFunk), marketing executive ...
Steve Smith, Legendary Radio Programmer Who Helped Launch the Hip-Hop Format, Dies at 62
The radio world is mourning the loss of revered programmer and consultant Steve Smith, who died suddenly last Thursday (July 7). He was 62. Tim Richards, Smith’s partner in Smith Richards Collective who first met Smith in 1992 at the MTV Awards in Los Angeles during a Westwood One broadcast, wrote on his Facebook page, “Steve was (that’s so hard to type) an incredible man. He was a radio innovator and one of the kindest and most creative programmers I’ve ever learned from.” Smith’s family confirmed his death in a statement to radio trade All Access, writing, “Steve unexpectedly passed away peacefully at home, in his sleep on July 7…Steve’s highly successful career spanned 40 years and has broken countless records, won countless awards, and has irrevocably changed the landscape of American ...
Steve Smith, Legendary Radio Programmer Who Helped Launch the Hip-Hop Format, Dies at 62
The radio world is mourning the loss of revered programmer and consultant Steve Smith, who died suddenly last Thursday (July 7). He was 62. Tim Richards, Smith’s partner in Smith Richards Collective who first met Smith in 1992 at the MTV Awards in Los Angeles during a Westwood One broadcast, wrote on his Facebook page, “Steve was (that’s so hard to type) an incredible man. He was a radio innovator and one of the kindest and most creative programmers I’ve ever learned from.” Smith’s family confirmed his death in a statement to radio trade All Access, writing, “Steve unexpectedly passed away peacefully at home, in his sleep on July 7…Steve’s highly successful career spanned 40 years and has broken countless records, won countless awards, and has irrevocably changed the landscape of American ...
Meek Mill Parts Ways With Roc Nation Management
Meek Mill has parted ways with Roc Nation Management, sources tell Billboard. Mill, who first signed with Roc in 2012 under a management deal, is no longer featured on the company’s website and has been removed from their social media pages. In 2019, Meek scored a joint venture deal with Roc for his imprint Dreamchasers, where he became president. Following his incarceration in 2018, Meek also teamed up with Jay-Z the following year and created Reform Alliance — a non-profit organization set to eliminate unjust sentencing laws in the United States. Earlier this year, Meek expressed frustrations with his label Atlantic Records after scoring a No. 3 debut on the Billboard 200 with his latest album, Expensive Pain. “They didn’t put nothing into expensive pain and then said I can’t ...
Amber Heard Seeks to Throw Out Verdict in Johnny Depp Defamation Trial
Amber Heard’s lawyers have asked a judge to throw out the $10.35 million verdict against her in the defamation case filed by ex-husband Johnny Depp, arguing that the verdict was not supported by the evidence and that one of the jurors may not have been properly vetted by the court. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news In post-trial motions filed Friday (July 1), Heard’s attorneys call the jury’s June 1 award of $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages to Depp “excessive” and “indefensible.” They ask the judge to set aside the verdict and dismiss Depp’s lawsuit or order a new trial. Immediately after the verdict, the judge reduced the compensatory damages to $350,000 under a state cap. Depp sued Heard for libel in Fairfa...
Crosby, Stills & Nash Music Returns to Spotify
Crosby, Stills & Nash music can now be streamed on Spotify once again, five months after David Crosby, Graham Nash and Stephen Stills requested their labels remove their recordings in support of Neil Young‘s decision to leave the streaming service. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Their music is available via Spotify as of Saturday (July 2). CSN will donate proceeds from streams to COVID-19 charities for at least a month, a source tells Billboard. In February, the band members commented, “We support Neil and we agree with him that there is dangerous disinformation being aired on Spotify’s Joe Rogan podcast. While we always value alternate points of view, knowingly spreading disinformation during this global pandemic has deadly conseq...
Google Violated Import Ban in Sonos Patent Case, US Customs Agency Says
Google is still ripping off Sonos’ technology — according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In a public ruling issued Tuesday, the CBP found that Google products including Pixel smartphones, tablets and computers that utilize controller technology invented and patented by Sonos were in violation of a ban issued five months ago by the U.S. International Trade Commission. That previous ruling by the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that Google had infringed five audio technology patents owned by smart speaker maker Sonos and banned the tech giant from importing the infringing products from China. Several other products that were previously found to have infringed Sonos patents – including Chromecast, Home and Nest audio players – however, were excluded from the latest ruli...
