business
Brett Harrison will step down as FTX US president, move into advisory role
The president of cryptocurrency exchange FTX US, Brett Harrison, has announced he will be transitioning into an advisory role in the next few months. In a Sept. 27 announcement on Twitter, Harrison said he will be resigning his position as FTX US president but will remain with the exchange “with the goal of removing technological barriers to full participation in and maturation of global crypto markets, both centralized and decentralized.” Harrison has worked as FTX US president since May 2021, following a job at Citadel Securities. “I can’t wait to share more about what I’m doing next,” said Harrison. “Until then, I’ll be assisting Sam [Bankman-Fried] and the team with this transition to ensure FTX ends the year with all its characteristic momentum.” 1/ An announcement: I’m stepping down ...
NFT Artist Diana Sinclair Signs With UTA Ahead of Christie’s Auction
Diana Sinclair, a leading visual artist in the Web3 space, has signed with UTA and is set to auction off nine of her NFTs at Christie’s beginning this week. Sinclair, 18, was recognized by Fortune as one of the top 50 most influential people in the NFT space alongside artists like Beeple. Her work focuses on themes like self-identity and social justice, and she is the curator behind Digital Diaspora, a Juneteenth exhibition that highlights the work of Black artists and creatives in the NFT community. Last year, Sinclair also collaborated with estate of Whitney Houston to create a digital video that comprised rare archival photos of the late singer that sold for roughly $1 million. And beginning on Wednesday, the artist will debut an NFT col...
Does Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime Performance Mean a Tour Is Coming?
The last time Rihanna fans could buy tickets to see her in concert was 2016 when she hadn’t even launched her lingerie brand Savage X Fenty that catapulted her to billionaire status and Travis Scott was still a support act. Now, more than six years later, RiRi’s set to return to the stage on Feb. 12, 2023, at State Farm Stadium outside Phoenix for the Super Bowl LVII halftime show — and possibly kicking off more performances to follow. With more than 100 million viewers tuning into the halftime show and its reputation for world-class artistry and production, Rihanna’s next gig is easily the biggest platform available for superstar artists looking to announce mega world tours and sell millions of tickets. In 2012, Madonna was the first modern act to use `a Super Bowl performanc...
White Supremacist Acts Are ‘Prevalent’ on Spotify, But the Streamer Says It’s Working On It
Spotify is vowing to remove racist, anti-semitic and other hate content from its platform following a new report that says music from a number of white supremacist acts is “prevalent” on the streaming service. The report, published by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Thursday (Sept. 22), found a total of 40 white supremacist acts hosted on Spotify, violating the platform’s rules against “dangerous content.” According to the report, “extremist” musical sub-genres encompassed by these artists include Fashwave, electronic music that espouses white supremacist ideology; Rock Against Communism, a sub-genre of punk that promotes racism and antisemitism; and National Socialist Black Metal (NBSM), a sub-genre of metal that espouses fascism and white supremacy. The ADL noted that several of thes...
Former Roblox Head of Music Jonathan Vlassopulos Joins Napster as CEO
Former Roblox vp and global head of music Jonathan Vlassopulos has joined Napster as CEO, the company announced Sunday (Sept. 25). Vlassopulos, who departed Roblox in April after three years, became known for shaping the company’s cutting-edge virtual concert strategy in the early days of the pandemic, with the platform hosting blockbuster virtual shows for artists including Lil Nas X, Tai Verdes, Twenty One Pilots and 24KGoldn. He also navigated Roblox through a rough patch after the company was sued by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) for copyright infringement in June 2021. The two parties settled the $200 million lawsuit three months later and launched talks for go-forward licensing deals. Vlassopulos joins Napster four months after the company — which began in 1999 as...
Warner Music Group Discloses Compensation for Incoming CEO Robert Kyncl
Warner Music Group’s newly named CEO Robert Kyncl will earn roughly $15 million, depending on meeting performance targets, in his first year on the job, according to a company SEC filing. Kyncl will share chief executive duties with outgoing CEO Stephen Cooper in January 2023 and will become sole CEO on Feb. 1, the SEC filing shows. Kyncl, named as Cooper’s replacement on Sept. 21, will also become a director of the company. Kyncl, formerly the chief business officer at YouTube and an executive at Netflix, will receive a base salary of $2 million, a target performance-based bonus of $3 million and an annual grant of performance share units with an aggregate, pre-tax value of $10 million (the first grant will be in January 2023). He will be reimbursed for expenses up to $500,000 for relocat...
Blockchain infrastructure firm Chain will sponsor New England Patriots football team
Chain, a blockchain infrastructure firm that offers developers Web3 services to build and maintain blockchain-based applications, will sponsor the New England Patriots football team as well as other venues and sporting clubs controlled by the Kraft Group. In a Thursday announcement, Chain said it will be the official blockchain and Web3 sponsor of the Patriots, the New England Revolution soccer club, Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts and the shopping center Patriot Place as part of a multi-year partnership deal with Kraft Sports + Entertainment, the marketing and events division of the Kraft Group. Chain will work to develop Web3 experiences for visitors to Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place by “merging the physical with the digital.” Speaking to Cointelegraph, a Chain spokesperson decline...
B. Riley may purchase up to $100M stake in Bitcoin miner Iris Energy
Australia-based crypto mining firm Iris Energy has signed a deal with B. Riley giving the capital market company the option to purchase up to 25 million of its shares. According to a Friday filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Iris Energy inked an agreement with B. Riley Principal Capital II related to the “potential offer and sale” of up to 25 million of the Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm’s ordinary shares, worth $100 million. The filing states B. Riley has a 24-month timeframe to complete the purchase starting “as soon as practicable” after the effective date of the registration statement. Because Iris Energy qualifies as a “foreign private issuer” under U.S. securities laws, the firm said it intended to follow “most Nasdaq corporate governance listing standards” ...
Irving & Shelli Azoff Honored by Gwen Stefani, Meghan Trainor & More at Wallis Annenberg Event
BEVERLY HILLS — After years of pandemic postponements, Irving and Shelli Azoff were feted by the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills on Wednesday night, with a local who’s-who gala of their family, friends and supporters. Only, Shelli wasn’t there. Mrs. Azoff, Irving’s wife of more than four decades and business partner on a variety of projects, was home sick with COVID-19. And while it was surely disappointing, somehow, it was hardly surprising. In true power couple fashion, the Azoffs brought in about as high-profile substitute as you can get: Kris Jenner, the Kardashian-Jenner family matriarch who has been a longtime friend of the family. (“I’d say she was the best manager if the world if I was at any other event,” said James Corden, who emceed the presentat...
Apple Music Taking Over as Super Bowl Halftime Sponsor
The NFL has found the next presenting sponsor of the Super Bowl halftime show. Apple Music has been named the official sponsor of the annual music and pop culture event, succeeding Pepsi, which announced earlier this year that it would give up its role in presenting the show. Pepsi had been the lead sponsor of the halftime show for the past decade. Apple Music’s first Super Bowl halftime show will take place Feb. 12, 2023 in Arizona, with performers still to be announced. This past year’s show featured Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent and Mary J. Blige perform. Previous shows have seen some of the biggest names in music perform, from Beyonce and Prince to Justin Timberlake and Jennifer Lopez. In fact, the show has become a much bi...
Timbaland & Swizz Beatz Settle ‘Verzuz’ Lawsuit With Triller
Timbaland and Swizz Beatz have settled their $28 million lawsuit against Triller for allegedly failing to pay money owed from the sale of their popular Verzuz livestream series. “VERZUZ has always been a platform that is by the artists, for the artists and with the people,” said Swizz Beatz and Timbaland in a statement. “We’re glad to come to an amicable agreement with Triller and continue giving fans the music and community that they’ve come to know and love from the brand.” Triller, a TikTok-like app that allows users to create and share short videos, announced in March 2021 that it would pay an undisclosed sum in cash and equity to acquire Verzuz, the pandemic-era hit in which two artists square off in a livestreamed music battle. Under the terms of the original deal, the Grammy-w...
Billboard Español Launches With New Website, All-Spanish Content
In an unprecedented move that underscores its commitment to Latin music and Spanish speaking music fans, Billboard has launched a new, all-Spanish language digital brand, Billboard Español. Billboard Español will serve as the premiere in-language global destination for Latin music, and the premiere global destination for music in Spanish. Its launch also makes Billboard the first U.S. mainstream media company to launch an all-Spanish site devoted to music. The inaugural issue features Colombian superstar Camilo on its cover, as well as exclusive video and digital content with Maluma, Grupo Firme and Romeo Santos. All four artists will also participate in Billboard Latin Music Week, September 26 – October 1. Billboard Español will also feature the Billboard charts readers expect. “At...
