business
Netflix’s Better-Than-Expected Subscriber Forecast is Good News for Music Streamers
Investors have reason to feel upbeat about subscription businesses after Netflix revealed better-than-expected quarterly results on Tuesday (July 19). Netflix subscribers dropped 970,000 subscribers to 220.7 million in the second quarter — it warned in April that it expected to lose as many as 2 million subscribers — and forecast a 1 million-subscriber gain in the third quarter. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expected Netflix to lose an average of 1.84 million subscribers in the second quarter, according to Reuters. The good news caused Netflix’s share price to quickly rise 8.2% to $218.15 in after-hours trading on Tuesday, up from $201.63 on Monday, when shares gained 5.6%. Still, Netflix shares are down 66.5% year to date through Tuesday. Tuesday’s announcement was also good news for other...
UTA Nabs Private Equity Investment From EQT to Fuel Expansion
A fund operated by the private equity firm EQT Partners has made a strategic investment in talent agency UTA, in a deal the agency says “will help fuel the next phase of investments in talent, innovation and international expansion.” EQT will become the largest outside shareholder in UTA in the acquisition, which will also see the firm acquiring stakes from some of UTA’s existing investors, including Investcorp and PSP Investments. UTA partnership and leadership will remain the controlling shareholders of the agency. Specific terms of the deal, including valuation, were not disclosed. However, everyone at UTA is expected to benefit financially from the investment. UTA has been on something of an acquisition spree in recent months, acquiring the strategic advisory firm MediaLink, the U.K. l...
Christie’s launches venture fund aimed at Web3 and blockchain investments
Christie’s, the auction house known for its sales of art and luxury items, has launched an investment fund to support emerging companies with technology enabling “seamless consumption of art.” In a Monday announcement, the auction company said the fund, Christie’s Ventures, will financially support firms in Web3, “art-related financial products and solutions,” and technology related to art and luxury goods. According to Christie’s, its first investment will be in LayerZero Labs, a company developing solutions for enabling omnichain decentralized applications, allowing a more seamless transfer of assets between blockchains. “We will focus on products and services, which can solve real business challenges, improve client experiences and expand growth opportunities, both across the art ...
Anitta Takes a Stand on Brazil’s Presidential Election – And Her Influence Could Help Sway Voters
With fewer than three months to go before the next presidential elections in her country, megastar Anitta has officially declared her support for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a left-wing former Brazilian president who is leading in the polls against far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. Anitta stated her position on Twitter on Monday (July 11), two days after a leftist official supporting da Silva, the Workers’ Party candidate who is better known as Lula, was brutally murdered at his own birthday party by a Bolsonaro supporter in the state of Paraná in the country’s south. “If there had been no murder involved … I’d say that the stupidity of these people is almost funny. But it’s not. It’s frightening,” Anitta tweeted, referencing Bolsonaro supporters. “I’m not a Worker’s Party supporter, and ...
Pantera’s 2023 Reunion Tour to Include Zakk Wylde and Anthrax Drummer Charlie Benante
Guitarist Zakk Wylde and Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante will join Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown this summer to tour as Pantera, headlining a number of major festivals across North America and Europe and staging some of their own headline concerts, a source close to the group tells Billboard. The lineup has been given a green light by the estates of the band’s founders, Vincent “Vinnie Paul” Abbott and “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, as well as Brown, who last year said Wylde wouldn’t tour with a reunited Pantera if that were to happen. It’s unclear what changed his mind. Wylde has long been the consensus fill-in for “Dimebag” Darrell due to his relationship with the Abbott brothers and his success and stature in hard rock and heavy metal. Wylde is lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and the founder o...
Ye ‘Weaponized Fame’ to Stiff Production Company $7M, Lawsuit Claims
Ye (Kanye West) is facing a new lawsuit that claims he owes $7.1 million in unpaid fees to a production company that worked on his Donda 2 release show as well as his canceled Coachella performance. In a complaint filed Thursday (July 14) in Los Angeles court, attorneys for Phantom Labs say the design and production firm “faithfully performed” the work requested by Ye, deploying “countless hours of in-house talent” and also making advanced payments to numerous other vendors. “Event after event, Ye and his representatives promised that if Phantom continued work on the budgeted and approved projects, Phantom would be paid promptly for the balance and the new work,” wrote Howard King, a well-known entertainment attorney who is repping Phantom. “More recent events have made clear that defendan...
TikTok to Add Content Ratings on Videos With ‘Overtly Mature Themes’
In an effort to prevent potentially disturbing or “overtly mature” material from reaching users under the age of 18, TikTok will begin adding content scores to videos as part of a new feature meant to emulate ratings used in the film, TV and gaming industries. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news According to a blog post shared on Wednesday, TikTok will begin rolling out an early version of the feature in coming weeks and place a “post unavailable” message to block out videos that are age restricted. To determine which videos fall into that restricted category, TikTok will assign a “maturity score” based on the video’s “thematic maturity” levels. “When we detect that a video contains mature or complex themes, for example, fictional scenes th...
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...
