business
Australia’s Mushroom Group Launches Talent Management Division
BRISBANE, Australia — Mushroom Group is expanding, with the formal launch of a talent management division. Led by director Sarah Donelly, Mushroom Management opens for business with a roster of nearly 50 artists, producers, musicians, songwriters and content creators, including Tkay Maidza, Bliss n Eso, Rolling Blackouts C.F., merci, mercy and The Living End. Celebrated producers Konstantin Kersting and Scott Horscroft are also on board. Mushroom Group has a long and successful history in artist management, with its late founder and chairman Michael Gudinski guiding the careers of ARIA Hall of Fame-inducted acts Skyhooks, Jimmy Barnes and others. The new enterprise, unveiled Monday (Feb. 28), is a “natural evolution” for the business, explains group CEO Matt Gudinski, one that cements the ...
eBay teases the idea of crypto payment integration on its platform again
The e-commerce platform is looking to integrate cryptocurrencies as a payment form to attract the millennial generation Markedly, this is not the first time the company has talked about plans to bring crypto payments to the platform California-based e-commerce company eBay is exploring the possibility of adding cryptocurrency payments to its platform, according to a Sunday report by TheStreet. The report detailed that the rationale behind the move is to attract the young generation (Gen Z & millennial) that is heavily leaning towards digitalisation and has a liking for cryptocurrencies. eBay has floated the idea of integrating digital assets on several past occasions to appeal to a wider consumer base. The company first showed interest in accepting Bitcoin payments in 2014. Early May l...
YouTube Pauses Monetization for Russian Media Channels Following Sanctions
YouTube is pausing Russian affiliated channels’ ability to monetize on the video platform, the company announced on Saturday (Feb. 26). In a statement, YouTube announced it would be suspending several channels’ ability to collect ad revenue, including the state-funded media outlet RT. The move comes just days after Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine on Thursday. “In light of extraordinary circumstances in Ukraine … we’re pausing a number of channels’ ability to monetize on YouTube, including several Russian channels affiliated with recent sanctions,” YouTube said in the statement obtained by Reuters. Additionally, videos from the blocked channels will appear less often in recommendations. Following a request from the Ukrainian government, RT and the other channels that have had their ad r...
The Ledger: How Big Is the Potential Music NFT Market?
The Ledger is a weekly newsletter about the economics of the music business sent to Billboard Pro subscribers. An abbreviated version of the newsletter is published online. It seems everybody is getting — or wants to get — in on the NFT business. It’s reminiscent of the late ’90s when companies rushed to launch websites because, well, there was money to be made and everybody else was doing it. Many companies stumbled out of the gate, but the internet turned out to be a pretty good business opportunity. The jury is still out on NFTs but there’s obvious potential. It’s no surprise that people spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on digital tokens that confer rights to anything from digital art to fan club-like perks. Some fans spend dearly to support their favorite artists. And with NFTs, ...
David Dormon Returns to Downtown Music Holdings as General Counsel
David Dormon is back in the fold at Downtown Music Holdings, where he’s appointed general counsel. Based in New York, Dormon returns to the music services provider following his departure last fall as vp, legal and business affairs, whereupon he joined international law firm Reed Smith LLP. At Downtown, Dormon succeeds current general counsel Peter Rosenthal, who is exiting to “pursue another opportunity,” according to a statement issued Friday morning (Feb. 25). “I know I speak for the entire company when I welcome David back into the Downtown family,” comments Andrew Bergman, CEO of Downtown Music Holdings. “David has a deep knowledge of all of our operations, keen negotiating skills, global M&A expertise and the respect of the entire industry. I am pleased to be able to offer him th...
Here’s How Much Lin-Manuel Miranda Has Made in Royalties From ‘Encanto’ Song Publishing
As Billboard has written about extensively recently, penning a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit as a solo writer is a rare thing in this day and age. But being the lone song author behind an entire hit soundtrack, as Lin-Manuel Miranda has done with the songs to the runaway Disney smash Encanto, is even more unusual — and more lucrative. Billboard estimates that the eight songs that Miranda wrote — each without co-writers — for the animated musical have thus far generated a combined $4.7 million in global publishing royalties. (Miranda’s share of the royalties will depend on what kind of publishing breakdown his deal has — but at the very least, if he has a straight publishing deal without any publisher share, he will get half that amount.) That includes about $1.275 million in publishing royal...
Nintendo Is Acquiring ‘The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ Collaborator SRD
Nintendo is finally acquiring long-time collaborator Systems Research and Development Co. (SRD) after four decades of partnership. Regularly partaking in the development and programming process for many of Nintendo’s games and consoles, SRD was founded back in 1979 and began working with the Japanese gaming giant during production for the Famicom/NES. Since then, they’ve aided in the development of almost every Nintendo console and hundreds of video game titles, including nearly all The Legend of Zelda installments as well as the latest hit Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Specific details revolving around the acquisition remain scarce, but the deal is expected to close on April 1. No monetary figure has been revealed either, although we know SRD will become a wholly-owned subsidi...
Oak View Group Rebrands Facilities Division as OVG360, to Launch New Suite of Services
Months after finalizing the purchase of Spectra, Tim Leiweke‘s Oak View Group has rebranded its OVG Facilities division as OVG360 and announced plans to launch a new suite of services for its venue management and hospitality clients. The news comes after six years of rapid growth across Oak View Group in partnership with music executive Irving Azoff and private equity firm Silver Lake, going from six employees in 2015 to more than 25,000 employees and more than $5.3 billion in deployed capital across nine projects, including the recently opened Savannah Enmarket Arena in Georgia. Last year, Oak View Group opened the $1.2 billion, 18,100-seat Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle as well as UBS Arena, a $1.1 billion multi-purpose, state-of-the-art arena located on the grounds of Belmont Park in E...
Who Gets Paid for a Stream?
Over a trillion times a year, somebody streams a song within the United States and sets in motion the process of paying royalties to the rights holders and creators responsible for the music. Each individual payment is minute — usually less than a cent — but for the most popular songs, royalties can add up to millions of dollars in a single year. Dua Lipa’s “Levitating,” for example, which was 2021’s most-streamed song in the U.S., according to MRC Data, earned her, its songwriters and its various rights holders about $4 million, Billboard estimates. Exactly how each involved party is paid varies, but the recipients are the same: record label, performing artist, songwriter, music publisher and an intermediary or two. Both the sound recording and its underlying musical work receive royaltie...
Many ETHDenver attendees report positive COVID-19 tests and few masks
The transmissibility of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 seems to have affected many attendees at the ETHDenver developer conference, who reported symptoms and positive test results following the event. Many social media posts from ETHDenver attendees after the conclusion of the Feb. 11–20 conference claim they tested positive for the virus. A local news outlet reported that more than 12,000 people from 100 countries attended the event, which resulted in many infections among both the vaccinated and unvaccinated. Finally got my first COVID infection courtesy of #ETHDenver pic.twitter.com/TDR3OEteI5 — T h i r k (@theThirk) February 22, 2022 According to ETHDenver’s COVID policies, attendees and staff were required to “take a rapid [antigen] test, on-site, prior to picking up their badge” and...
FC Barcelona turns down sponsorship offers from crypto brands
Several entities in the crypto sector presented offers, but the football club turned them down The Catalan club is said to be in the final stages of sealing a deal with Spotify Cryptocurrencies have gained mainstream adoption over the last couple of months, leading to an intersection between the industry and other niches. Notably, cryptocurrency firms and brands have injected huge sums into various sports, especially in the US and Europe. For the former, crypto platforms have targeted the major professional sports leagues, including the NBA and MLB. In Europe, crypto entities have eyed top professional football clubs as they guarantee a lot of exposure crucial for brand awareness. Earlier this month, Tezos announced an agreement with Premier League club Manchester United that will see the ...
SoundCloud, Solid Foundation Management Form ‘Groundbreaking’ JV
SoundCloud and Solid Foundation Management form a joint venture that both parties hope, with its combined might, will weaponize more artists and unearth new talent. Described in a statement as “groundbreaking,” the alliance sees Solid Foundation parent QC Media Holdings’ invest in Soundcloud with an undisclosed sum. Also, QC Media co-founders Kevin “Coach K” Lee and Pierre “P” Thomas and their Solid Foundation artist management team, based in Atlanta, will work collaboratively with the SoundCloud to “identify, invest in, and foster the careers of artists featured.” “Coach K and P are two of the most influential voices in music, having identified, developed and grown some of the most successful hip-hop acts of our time,” comments Eliah Seton, president of SoundCloud. With this deal, Seton c...
