business
Mexican Rapper Gera MX Signs With Sony Music
Gera MX has signed a deal with Sony Music, Billboard can exclusively announce today (May 3). The Mexican rapper and major label have joined forces to “continue the steady growth and impact of his career and celebrate his arrival to the home of artists,” says an official statement. “I feel really excited about this new stage in my career,” Gera (real name: Gerardo Daniel Torres Montante) said. “I know this strategic alliance with Sony will be crucial to continue growing what has already been highly achieved in my career.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Born in Monterrey and raised in San Luis Potosi, the former Billboard Latin Artist on the Rise has a trajectory that spans over 10 years and credits artists such as Molotov, Control Mache...
Discogs to Boost Brick-and-Mortar Record Stores With New Initiative
In the wake of this year’s Record Store Day on April 23, Discogs is spinning up its own initiative to assist brick-and-mortar music sellers. The online physical music database announced Tuesday (May 3) that it’s set to launch its first annual Independent Record Store Month in June 2022. By connecting music fans and indie record stores across the globe, the initiative hopes to highlight the importance of physical record shops and their contribution to vinyl culture. During Independent Record Store Month, Discogs will launch The Store Explorer, a new, year-round online directory highlighting brick-and-mortar record shops around the world and encouraging fans to support them. Participating stores will also receive a digital badge that verifies which sellers in the Discogs marketplace are phys...
Weekly Report: New York resolute on blocking PoW mining
Planned launch of EFT Securities and Cosmos ETPs delayed Volt Capital’s Imran Khan predicts DAOs will touch $1 trillion in AUM by 2032 New York is closer to endorsing a two-year moratorium on PoW mining Ethereum layer two Optimism seeks to embrace governance structure EPL Club Liverpool reportedly eyeing a crypto shirt sponsor Launch of three crypto ETFs in Australia dealt with a delay Last week, three exchange-traded funds and the first of their kind in Australia were scheduled to list on the Cboe Australia. However, hours before going live on April 27, the securities and derivatives exchange said that products would be delayed pending prior checks. Cboe Australia held back in detailing the delay, only promising an update in the coming days. According to a report by the Australi...
Anchor Co-Founder Michael Mignano Resigns From Spotify
Michael Mignano, co-founder of the popular podcast creation platform Anchor, which was acquired by Spotify in 2019, submitted his resignation last week, a company spokesperson confirmed with Billboard. Mignano’s departure was first reported by The Verge. It is the latest shake-up on the podcasting side of Spotify. In April, a pair of top executives — Courtney Holt, head of talk partnerships, editorial and global markets, and Lydia Polgreen, managing director of Gimlet, which Spotify also acquired in 2019 — both announced plans to leave the company. Mignano founded Anchor with Nir Zicherman eight years ago. “We tried to start podcasts of our own… only to become discouraged by the complicated process and expensive hardware we found ourselves endlessly researching,” the two wrote in 2019...
Celine Dion Pushes European Tour Dates to 2023 Amid Ongoing Health Issue
Celine Dion is once again postponing a leg of her Courage World Tour amid an ongoing health issue. “I’m so sorry we have to change our tour plans for Europe one more time; first we had to move the shows because of the pandemic, now it’s my health issues causing us to postpone the shows,” Dion said in a statement posted to her website on Friday (April 29) announcing her European dates were rescheduled. In her message to fans, Dion directly gave a more detailed update about her condition, which she has previously identified as severe and persistent muscle spasms, promising that she is doing her “very best” to get back to being performance-ready. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I am doing a little bit better … but I’m still...
The Ledger: Tencent Music Highlights Risks of Doing Business in China
Doing business in China got tougher in 2021 after government agencies handed down new rules and levied fines against some well-known companies. For evidence this has made investing in Chinese companies more complicated, look no further than Tencent Music Entertainment’s annual report released Tuesday. All publicly traded companies’ financial statements include risk factors mandated by the Securities and Exchange Commission to help investors understand companies’ unique challenges and possible negative outcomes if things go south. TME’s previous annual reports have listed numerous risk factors, ranging from licensing third-party content to its corporate structure. It’s a long list that just got longer. The new risk factors in TME’s 2022 annual report are further evidence of the challenges f...
Judge Bans Tyga’s Sneakers After Vans Lawsuit: ‘Striking Visual Similarities’
A Brooklyn federal judge on Friday sided with Vans and banned all future sales of Tyga‘s “Wavy Baby” sneakers, ruling that they likely violated the sneaker company’s trademarks. Two days after a key hearing, U.S. District Judge William F. Kuntz issued a temporary restraining order blocking a New York art collective called MSCHF from continuing to sell the sneaker – a surreal, warped version of Van’s classic Old Skool sneaker launched in collaboration with Tyga on April 18. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Vans sued MSCHF earlier this month, calling the Wavy Baby “blatant trademark infringement.” MSCHF argued back that the shoe was a work of art protected by the First Amendment, but Judge Kuntz was unswayed. “Despite defendant’s assertion...
Stagecoach Bans Confederate Flags on Festival Campgrounds
Goldenvoice has quietly instituted a new rule banning Confederate flags at this year’s Stagecoach, according to the General Resort Rules page on the festival’s official website. The change was first spotted by Palm Springs’ Desert Sun. The rule bans “divisive symbols, including, without limitation, Confederate flags and racially disparaging or other inappropriate imagery/public displays” on Stagecoach’s campground, known as the “The Resort.” Goldenvoice declined to comment when Billboard reached out about the ban. Stagecoach attendees have previously complained in online forums about the display of Confederate flags at the festival. One of them, Gigi Mitchell, started a Change.org petition in 2020 calling for a ban, though it garnered just 57 signatures. The Confederate flag has long had a...
Capitol Studios Set to Close for Two Years, 13 Staffers To Be Let Go
Hollywood’s historic Capitol Studios are closing for as much as two years starting this summer, as the Capitol Records Tower building continues to undergo repairs. Thirteen studio staffers were informed Friday (April 29) that their jobs will be eliminated when the studio shuts down in a few months. Paula Salvatore, who has managed Capitol Studios for more than 30 years and is now VP, client relations and studio marketing, Universal Music Group, told Billboard in a statement: “I have been informed that Capitol Studios will have to shut down starting this summer for a lengthy structural improvement project. It’s the first time in the studios’ 66-year history that they will have to shut down for an extended period of time.” The legendary studio, which had stayed open during the pa...
Crypto start-up Argent announces $40 million raise
The London-based firm seeks to make it easier for users to manage its non-custodial wallet offering Part of the funds will be invested in initiatives around DeFi and Web 3 One of the co-founders noted that the firm intends to address the scalability issue of its wallet Argent, the firm behind the eponymous smart wallet, on Thursday disclosed it had completed a Series B funding round that saw it raise $40 million. Two VC firms Fabric Ventures and Metaplanet led the fundraising, which also had participation from Index Ventures, Creandum and Paradigm. Animoca Brands, Jump Crypto, and Starkware (creator of rival Ethereum-scaling solution StarkNet) featured in strategic capacities. Worth noting, StarkNet is the host of Argent’s wallet – Argent X. This explains the strategic colla...
Jaxsta Promotes Beth Appleton to CEO
Beth Appleton is the new CEO at Jaxsta, the official music credits database. Less than a year after joining the company in the role of chief marketing officer, Appleton is promoted to the top job, while founder and former CEO Jacqui Louez-Schoorl assumes a different set of duties working alongside the new boss. The handover was announced Thursday (April 28) in a statement via the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), and is effective immediately. “With every business there comes a time for evolution and ensuring that strength and focus continues in the right areas as a business grows,” comments Appleton. “Jacqui and I are magnificent business partners and friends and this change allows Jacqui to focus on the Jaxsta product and our community relations and I can then drive the management and oper...
Johnny Depp’s Abuse Allegations Cost Actor Sixth ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Film, Court Hears
May 27, 2016, was the day that Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s marriage went from private misery to public, career-killing spectacle. Heard, who had just filed for divorce, arrived at a Los Angeles courthouse that day to seek a temporary restraining order, showing up with a clear mark on her face, which she said Depp inflicted during a fight six days prior. Photographers captured the scene, and the allegations became tabloid fodder across the globe. Depp says he never hit her, and now he’s suing Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court. On Wednesday, jurors in the case heard from police officers who responded to the couple’s penthouse immediately after the fight. None of the officers saw the red mark that was so prominent six days later. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See ...
