business
Johnny Depp Completes Four Days on Stand, Says Defamation Trial Is His ‘Fight Back’
Actor Johnny Depp concluded a grueling four days on the witness stand Monday, telling jurors in a calm voice that he filed his libel lawsuit against his ex-wife because it was his best chance to reclaim his reputation, just hours after they heard audio clips of him berating his wife with coarse vulgarities. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “It was the only time I was able to fight back and use my own voice,” Depp said of his decision to sue Amber Heard for a 2018 op-ed piece in The Washington Post in which she refers to herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” He continued to deny that he ever hit Heard, and accused her of hitting him and throwing items including paint cans and vodka bottles at him. And jurors heard an a...
Pepe Garza to Lead Estrella Media’s New Music Division
Estrella Media has promoted longtime radio programmer and television personality Pepe Garza to head of content development and A&R for the company’s newly established music division Estrella Media Music Entertainment (EMME). Garza will also serve as the executive producer of digital audio for the multi-platform media company. According to an official description of his new role, Garza will help lead the new division where he’ll “seek out new talent” to sign to the label and publishing arm and “help develop the next generation of Latin music stars.” Garza will also be responsible for curating new original digital audio series for Estrella’s free streaming platforms and podcasts. “Pepe has been a leading figure in the growth and support of Regional Mexican music and transformed the way f...
Weekly Report: Coinbase unveils NFT marketplace in beta, Binance chasing regulatory compliance
Coinbase NFT allows waitlisted users to join a beta program of the NFT marketplace Kadena Eco launches a $100 million grant to empower developers to build on the Kadena network a16z has established an academic crypto-research focused lab to solve important problems in the blockchain scene Binance recruits two former regulators to its compliance and surveillance team Australia defines a policy roadmap toward the regulation of crypto assets Here are the top cryptocurrency headlines you might have missed last week: Coinbase NFT launches in beta plans to add users over the coming weeks progressively Coinbase announced mid last week that it started allowing a few members on the waitlist of Coinbase NFT to start using the platform, which is currently in a limited beta stage. Coinbase says t...
Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44B — crypto industry reacts
In the hours and days before Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s purchase of social media giant Twitter, discussions on free speech were common among many online users both in and out of the crypto industry. Twitter announced on Monday that it will become a privately held company following its board of directors accepting a bid from Musk to purchase the firm’s stock for $54.20 per share in cash — roughly $44 billion. Though the transaction is expected to close in 2022, it is still subject to the approval of Twitter stockholders as well as certain regulators. In one of his last tweets prior to news of the purchase becoming public, Musk said, “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter because that is what free speech means.” Twitter quoted the Tesla CEO saying “free speech is the bedrock of...
Songwriter & ASCAP President Paul Williams Remembers Senator Orrin Hatch as a Champion of Creators
Sometimes there is truth in old sayings like “politics makes strange bedfellows.” That was certainly the case with Senator Orrin G. Hatch, and perhaps many of the music creators and recording artists whose livelihoods he protected and whose work he recognized as important to our culture – even if it wasn’t to his personal taste. Senator Hatch, who died on April 23 at the age of 88, had a certain way of greeting me. “You rascal, Paul,” he’d say with a devilish smile. “Are you behaving yourself?” And I would often reply, especially when I was in his office explaining the challenges we were facing as songwriters and asking for his support. “Yes, I’m behaving, Senator, and I’m grateful that you are in our corner standing with songwriters on this issue.” And he did stand with music creators on ...
Songwriter & ASCAP President Paul Williams Remembers Senator Orrin Hatch as a Champion of Creators
Sometimes there is truth in old sayings like “politics makes strange bedfellows.” That was certainly the case with Senator Orrin G. Hatch, and perhaps many of the music creators and recording artists whose livelihoods he protected and whose work he recognized as important to our culture – even if it wasn’t to his personal taste. Senator Hatch, who died on April 23 at the age of 88, had a certain way of greeting me. “You rascal, Paul,” he’d say with a devilish smile. “Are you behaving yourself?” And I would often reply, especially when I was in his office explaining the challenges we were facing as songwriters and asking for his support. “Yes, I’m behaving, Senator, and I’m grateful that you are in our corner standing with songwriters on this issue.” And he did stand with music creators on ...
Private Equity Firm Blackstone Group Eyes Ubisoft Acquisition
Private equity firm Blackstone Group is now eyeing a potential acquisition of Ubisoft. According to a new report from Bloomberg, the French studio behind the Assassin’s Creed and Rainbow Six franchises has been looking to sell in recent months and has now attracted the attention of several private equity firms including the Blackstone Group and KKR & Co, the two largest in the world. Both firms have “preliminary takeover interest” but Ubisoft has not entered “any serious negotiations with potential acquirers” just yet. Kotaku also points out that the gaming giant has been “working closely with several outside consultancy firms” to audit its business, noting that while it’s common practice for companies to do this to become more profitable, sources also suggest that Ubisoft is...
Madonna Selling SoCal Mansion for $26M a Year After Buying It From The Weeknd
That didn’t last long. Just a little over a year after buying a nine-bedroom home in Hidden Hills, Calif., from The Weeknd for $19.3 million, Madonna has decided to hoist the residence back onto the market. The music artist has listed the property for $25.995 million — a big jump from what she paid last April — according to the Multiple Listing Service. Located in a guard-gated area set on nearly 3 acres, the estate includes a barn with a newly built gym and dance/Pilates studio, a natural amenity for the perennially fit singer. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The redwood-dotted property includes the main house and a two-bedroom guest house. It comprises 12,500 square feet of living space with 11 bathrooms, a two-story wall ...
ETF Securities ties up with 21 Shares to launch BTC and ETH EFTs in Australia
EBTC and EETH would be the first spot ETFs tracking Ether and Bitcoin via the Australia Dollar Both ETFs are expected to go live on April 27 on the CBOE Australia exchange Exchange-traded products (ETPs) specialist firm 21Shares has joined hands with ETF Securities to launch two exchange-traded funds (EFTs) tracking the two largest digital tokens. The two would be named the ETFS 21Shares Bitcoin ETF – EBTC and the ETFS 21Shares Ethereum ETT – EETH. They would be novel EFTs to track Bitcoin and Ethereum-native Ether using the Australian Dollar directly. The exposure to cryptocurrencies that the two products will offer customers will be entirely backed by Bitcoin and Ether held in cold storage at the Coinbase crypto. The tickers will go live on April 27, listing on the CBO...
After COVID-19, Floods, Bluesfest 2022 Exceeds Expectations
BRISBANE, Australia — As Australians settle into the cooler months, the traditional festivals season ends on a comforting note. Byron Bay’s Bluesfest, one of the great brands on the festivals calendar, wrapped without disruption, and welcomed more than 100,000 guests through its gates. After a tumultuous two years, which included a last-minute aborted mission in 2021, Bluesfest went ahead as planned from Thursday, April 14 to Monday, April 18 at the Byron Events Farm, with more ticket sales than expected. “This year we’ve sold more than 101,000 tickets — more than 15,000 of those in the past week,” explains Bluesfest director Peter Noble. “We had a surge of sales in the last 10 days. People waited to make sure we didn’t get cancelled again before they bought a ticket.” That wait-and-...
Midem to Return in 2023 After City of Cannes Purchases Brand
The municipality of Cannes has officially purchased the Midem brand from RX France, according to a release from the office of Cannes mayor David Lisnard. The city of Cannes will now host a “new” Midem, slated to take place at the beginning of 2023 at Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. The event will focus on technological innovations and feature concerts throughout the city for residents and visitors. Making Midem an official Cannes event dovetails with the city’s strategy of developing an entire chain of “audiovisual creation” in Cannes. “Organized since 1967 in Cannes, the International Market for Records and Music Publishing [MIDEM] was the largest annual global event devoted to the music scene,” said Lisnard in a statement. “In order to rediscover this emblematic event on the Cannes ...
Astroworld Report Leads to Finger-Pointing Over Jurisdiction and Blame for Tragedy
Travis Scott‘s Astroworld festival, where 10 attendees died last November, suffered from permitting issues and insufficient training for security, according to a report released Tuesday by the Texas Task Force on Concert Safety (TFCS). The task force, which was created by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to investigate the tragedy and make policy recommendations, concluded that establishing standardized safety procedures could help prevent a similar mass casualty event from happening in the future. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Released five months after the tragedy, the report highlights a confusing web of permitting power over events like Astroworld. Harris County should have had permitting jurisdiction over NRG Park, the report says, but the...
