business
Rap Lyrics Are Still Cited in Court, But That Might Be About to Change
When Vonte Skinner stood trial in New Jersey in 2008 for a drug-related shooting that he claimed he did not commit, a detective read to jurors at length from a book of amateur rap lyrics discovered in Skinner’s car the night of the crime. They referenced bloodshed and violence and death – but they weren’t connected to the actual facts of the case. Skinner was later found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison. “It made absolutely no sense,” says Ezra Rosenberg, an attorney who worked with the American Civil Liberties Union on Skinner’s appeal. “This was a guy who was convicted of an extraordinarily serious crime based on evidence that included his rap lyrics, when there was nothing in them that was connected in any way to the crime he was convicted of.” Years later, prosecutors are sti...
Mushroom Group Aims for ‘New Heights’ Through Partnership With UMG’s Virgin Music
Mushroom Group, the independent music juggernaut, partners up with Universal Music Group’s indie label and artist services division on a multi-tiered arrangement that promises to lift the Australia company to “new heights” and secure global opportunities for its artists. The alliance, announced Thursday (March 17), is a two-way street, pumping fresh content into the Virgin Music Label & Artist Services (VLMAS) pipeline, and providing support and distribution services for Mushroom artists’ releases, for the world outside of Australia and New Zealand. Under the terms of the new deal, VLMAS will activate its global promotion, marketing and audience label services for Mushroom’s existing U.S. and U.K. activities, and, in situations where both parties agree on a project, certain Mushroom ar...
After Months Declining, Music Stocks Tick Up as Fed Raises Interest Rate
Music stocks that had been pummeled in recent months received a respite on Wednesday (March 16) after the Federal Reserve moved to combat inflation and soaring economy by raising the federal funds rate from 0.25% to 0.50%. The federal fund rate is the benchmark rate for inter-bank loans and borrowing costs for credit cards, mortgages and auto loans. Shares of Universal Music Group rose 5.0% on the day to 21.96 euros while Spotify improved 7.9% to $133.58 and Warner Music Group climbed 1.4% to $35.47. The Fed’s move had been expected since its first announced its intention to do so on Dec. 15, 2021. By raising the federal funds rate, the Fed will make borrowing money more costly, reducing businesses and consumer spending to rein in inflation. The Fed stated on Wednesday it “anticipates that...
Hong Kong-based Hex Trust concludes an $88M Series B funding round
Hex Trust intends to expand into Europe and the Middle East It will also invest in its proprietary crypto platform Hex SafeTM Asia-based institutional crypto custodian Hex Trust has completed an $88 million Series B funding round led by Animoca Brands and Liberty City Ventures at a $300 million valuation. Of the raised capital, $61 million constituted primary capital, while $27 million was from secondary investors. Several other investments firms, including Sino Global Capital, Terra, CoinList, Protocol Labs, Morgan Creek, Primavera Venture Partners, Ripple, BlockFi, LeadBlock Partners, and Eterna Capital also participated in this round. According to CEO and co-founder of Hex Trust, Alessio Quaglini, investors’ interest in this raise surpassed the initially anticipated numbers. The C...
Multinational investment bank HSBC acquires LAND on The Sandbox
The bank sees great potential in creating new experiences through immersive tech such as virtual reality HSBC will use its metaverse initiative to interact with sports, e-sports, and gaming communities Multinational banking and asset management firm HSBC has officially joined the metaverse, according to a blog post published by The Sandbox today. Following the partnership, the British financial services company has purchased a plot on The Sandbox metaverse, on which it intends to establish its virtual world. It hopes to use the ecosystem to provide an engagement platform for finance professionals, gaming communities, sports, and e-sports enthusiasts. “The ground-breaking partnership between The Sandbox and HSBC will see the global financial services provider acquire a plot of LAND, v...
Run the Jewels’ Killer Mike Strikes Publishing Deal with Reservoir
Rapper and actor Killer Mike has signed a publishing deal with Reservoir Media, including future works and his back catalog. The agreement will include the independent publisher taking a stake in the discography of Run the Jewels, the rap duo comprised of Killer Mike and EL-P, who have released such hit tracks as “Legend Has It,” “Close Your Eyes” and “Blockbuster Night, Pt. 1.” Born and raised in Atlanta, Killer Mike has dropped four landmark albums with Run the Jewels over the course of his career, as well as six solo projects dating back to his 2003 debut record Monster, released via Columbia Records. He’s also renowned for his collaborations with other hip-hop heavyweights including Jay-Z, Outkast, T.I. and Big Boi. As an actor, Killer Mike has had roles in films such as Baby...
ConsenSys notches a $7 BN valuation after completing a $450 M Series D raise
The funds raised will be converted to ETH, used to support the adoption of Infura, a revamp of MetaMask and ConsenSys’ expansion efforts ConsenSys also revealed that MetaMask now has 30 million active monthly users Blockchain and Ethereum–focused firm ConsenSys today announced the conclusion of a $450 million raise. The recently–concluded funding round, led by ParaFi Capita, has seen the valuation of ConsenSys grow more than twofold to $7 billion, a significant swell from the last financing in November 2021. The raise saw the involvement of previous investors such as Third Point, TRUE Capital Management, and Marshall Wace, with newer investors including Temasek, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Anthos Capital, Microsoft and Sound Ventures also in play. Notably, celebrities including rappers 2...
FTX becomes the first licensed digital asset exchange in Dubai
The crypto exchanges’ Europe subsidiary will offer complex crypto derivatives to institutional clients. FTX also has plans to set up its regional headquarters in the city Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto trading platform FTX has become Dubai’s premier recipient of a virtual asset exchange (VAX) licence, according to a press release sent out today. The American exchange’s Europe and Middle Eastern subsidiary, FTX Europe, will now be operating legally in the city and would play a role in Dubai’s push to spur the growth of global virtual assets regulation. “Really excited to receive the first (and so far only) digital asset exchange licence from Dubai!” SBF tweeted following the news. The licence allows FTX to offer enterprise investors exposure ...
LimeWire chooses Algorand to host its relaunch as an NFT marketplace
The imminent LimeWire marketplace would be initially focused on music collectables The marketplace chose Algorand for energy efficiency, carbon-negative state, scalability, safety and speed Following the announcement of its comeback as a mainstream-ready NFT marketplace focused on music collectables last week, LimeWire has now chosen the Algorand blockchain to power the platform. LimeWire explained that it settled on Algorand for its sustainable blockchain environment. As a PoS chain, Algorand is one of the most environmentally friendly blockchains and became the first carbon-negative chain last year. Also, as LimeWire intends to offer free minting, Algorand’s performance and scalability will come in handy. “We have partnered with Algorand as our official blockchain partner. Wh...
K-Pop Label JYP Entertainment Doing ‘Full-Scale’ Expansion Into US
One of K-pop’s biggest record labels is firmly planting its foot into the U.S. market in the latest move to indicate South Korean pop music is increasingly creating significant stateside business. JYP USA, the North American subsidiary of JYP Entertainment, will focus on the U.S. development of JYP’s roster, as part of a “full-scale North American market development and global expansion maximization” by the South Korean label, Billboard has learned. JYP Entertainment, one of South Korea’s publicly traded agencies, was founded in the late 1990s by musician-producer J.Y. Park, who created early breakout stars like Wonder Girls, the first K-pop act to enter the Hot 100 chart in 2009. The North American launch follows last month’s news that JYP’s strategic partnership with Republic Records wou...
Mila Kunis’ studio debuts an NFT-backed animated web series ‘The Gimmicks’
A public NFT mint is planned for Friday, via which users could get one of 10,000 NFTs to join the show’s community Holders would be able to vote on the direction the show’s story takes Web 3 animated studio Toonstar has partnered with actress Mila Kunis’ production studio, Sixth Wall, to launch an animated wrestling show that follows the lives of retired professional wrestlers, The Gimmicks. The show’s creators aim to build an NFT community around The Gimmicks, whose members would vote on which path the storyline should take next at the end of every episode. The show, loosely described as ‘South Park meets WWE, but interactive and greasier’ by Toonstar CEO John Attanasio, was conceptualised following the release of athletes by WWE at the onset of the COV...
Magic Eden completes $27M raise, aims to conquer the Solana NFT space ahead of OpenSea
Paradigm Capital led the NFT marketplace’s Series A raise Magic Eden is investing in Solana for its low costs and better performance than Ethereum Solana-based NFT marketplace Magic Eden has closed a $27 million Series A funding round. The raise was led by investment dealer Paradigm Capital, with contributions from Sequoia Capital and Solana Ventures. Backed financially by the raise, Magic Eden intends to expand the breadth of products and services that it offers users. A bet on Solana – the cheaper, better-performing alternative Magic Eden aims to be the first mover to gain a real hold on the Solana NFT market space before OpenSea does. The latter is easily the most dominant marketplace in the NFT business, bragging the lion’s share. Though OpenSea suffered a 50% downturn in t...
