business
Rita Ora Signs Record Deal With BMG
Rita Ora has struck a partnership with BMG to release her future recordings, the company announced Thursday (Feb. 3). Under the new deal, Ora will own all of her future master recordings. “I’m THRILLED to announce that I am partnering with BMG!!! I couldn’t be happier that they will be my label family moving forward,” Ora said on social media. “Their approach to artist ownership and control is very much aligned with mine, and it’s so empowering to know that I will own all my master recordings that I make from now on. I also feel so motivated to be working with such a dynamic, creative, forward-thinking global company.” Ora is one of the largest pop acts BMG has added to its roster and follows the $10 million global deal the company signed with 5 Seconds of Summer in October. Ora has charte...
Nike Becomes an Equity Investor in the WNBA
NIKE, Inc. on Thursday became an equity investor in the WNBA, deepening its 25-year commitment to the league. The partnership will allow Nike to help grow the league by crafting authentic storytelling, offering widened visibility for WNBA athletes and establishing additional grassroots opportunities for girls to play basketball. “Women’s sport is one of the best investments, with great potential to impact and grow the next era of basketball,” said Sonja Henning, VP, NA Leagues Partnerships, NIKE, Inc., in a statement. “Nike has always been more than a sponsor with the WNBA — we’re a strategic partner. And we’re proud to be part of a movement that is redefining sport for a new generation — for WNBA players, fans and girls.” Through this investment, Nike’s main goal is to equip the league wi...
John Legend Dives Into NFTs With Our Happy Company’s ‘OurSong’ Platform
John Legend, the great-allrounder who has already completed an EGOT, the youngest person to do so, is spreading his wings into NFTs. The R&B star is named co-founder and chief impact officer at Our Happy Company, which today (Feb. 2) launches OurSong, its social NFT platform. With Legend in his dual-capacity, Our Happy Company has ambitions for OurSong to “build a better system for creators to be discovered, monetize their work, and engage with fans through NFTs,” reads a statement. The new platform is meant to appeal to those of us who don’t possess a degree in computer science, or have, at the very least, a lifelong tech habit. One of its points of difference is ease of use, for artists and consumers. OurSong users don’t need to hold a separate cryptocurrency wallet outside the...
Sony Creating Joint Venture In India For Film and Music Ventures
Sony Group is leveraging its music and movie entertainment divisions to create a joint company focused on developing investment ventures for media talent in India. The new venture, to be named Sony Entertainment Talent Ventures India (SETVI), will draw from a “vast pool of commercial talent and star-power in India to build investment opportunities, partnerships, metaverse solutions and more,” the company says in a press release. Sony Music Entertainment is already a leading record label in India, with a strong presence in Bollywood and Tamil OST, across multiple genres that include national and regional pop. Sony Pictures Entertainment includes Sony Pictures Networks, a broadcast division with over 700 million viewers from 170 million households in 8,000 cities across India; Sony Pictures ...
Worldwide Independent Network Appoints Maria Amato as Chair
Maria Amato, CEO of the Australian Independent Record Labels Assn. (AIR), is appointed chair of Worldwide Independent Network (WIN), the organization that brings together local independent music trade bodies across the globe. Based in Melbourne, Amato becomes WIN’s first female chair and the organization’s first from the southern hemisphere. Amato is one of several new changes to the board of WIN for 2022. She’s joined by new directors Jeffrey Chiang (Fluxus Inc./LIAK, South Korea), Paul Pacifico (AIM, U.K.) and Sandra Rodrigues (ABMI, Brazil), who replace outgoing directors Carlos Mills (ABMI, Brazil), Chan Kim (Fluxus Inc,/LIAK, South Korea), and Kees van Weijen (IMPALA, Europe). “Today’s news marks the first time that WIN has been chaired both by a woman, and by someone from outside Eur...
HitPiece Wanted to Make an NFT for Every Song — Only Its Founders Forgot to Ask Artists First
Over the last couple days, a beta version of a new platform called HitPiece has sparked outrage and confusion throughout the music industry after artists and their teams began finding NFTs of their songs posted on the marketplace without their permission. The NFTs were listed as “available for auction” or as “live” auctions under individual song titles with corresponding album artwork, and while they were characterized as “music NFTs” they did not appear to contain audio. HitPiece’s mission, according to the company’s pitch deck, is to make a “1 of 1 NFT for every song,” allowing “USD and Crypto for payment.” The company launched in December, but it wasn’t until Tuesday that people began to really take notice that it was listing NFTs for artists ranging from XXXTentacion to John Lennon to ...
Twitch Reaches Deal With Merlin for Independent Labels
Live streaming platform Twitch has entered into an agreement with digital music licensing service Merlin to create revenue-earning opportunities for independent artists. Merlin represents more than 20,000 labels and hundreds of thousands of artists from every country in the world, who can now interact with fans, generate earnings and build community on Twitch. Similar to the recent agreements formed between Twitch and Universal Music and Warner Music’s recorded music divisions, the Merlin partnership is not a licensing deal. “We’re thrilled to collaborate with Twitch for this groundbreaking deal,” said Merlin CEO Jeremy Sirota in a release. “We’ve been engaged in conversations with Twitch since the day I started at Merlin, and I’m pleased that our team found a path for Merlin members and t...
For Lil Wayne, Mac Miller & More, Bringing Mixtapes to Streaming Is a Boon — But Clearing Them Is ‘Hell’
In the last few years, many cult-favorite hip-hop mixtapes from the 1990s and 2000s have made their way to streaming platforms, including Apple Music, Tidal and Spotify. Fan demand helped, but the hard work was done by sample clearance experts like Deborah Mannis-Gardner, who negotiated with copyright owners and labels whose songs and recordings were sampled on the tapes, to secure the necessary licenses. In 2021 alone, streaming services started offering Mac Miller’s critically acclaimed 2014 mixtape Faces, A$AP Rocky’s 2011 debut Live. Love. A$AP; Megan Thee Stallion’s compilation project Something For Thee Hotties which includes a handful of her standalone freestyles from the last few years, and Nicki Minaj’s breakout 2009 project, Beam Me Up Scotty. “This all started during COVID last ...
NYDIG offering allows participating companies to pay employees in Bitcoin
The New York Digital Investment Group, or NYDIG, has launched a benefit program allowing employees of participating companies to convert a portion of their paychecks into Bitcoin. In a Tuesday announcement, the NYDIG said several firms involved with sports, entertainment and digital currencies would be among the first to offer the crypto payments, including Everbowl, MVB Bank, StretchZone, crypto analytics firm The TIE, crypto mining firm Iris Energy and Fertitta Entertainment — the conglomerate behind restaurant giant Landry’s and the National Basketball Association’s Houston Rockets. Company employees who participate in NYDIG’s Bitcoin Savings Plan can choose how much of their pay will be converted into Bitcoin (BTC), with no transaction or cold storage fees. NYDIG chief innovation...
White House on Spotify’s Joe Rogan Mess: ‘There Is More That Can Be Done’ to Inform Users
The White House is weighing in on the Spotfiy-Joe Rogan fiasco. White House press secretary Jen Psaski, in her daily press briefing, was asked by Politico’s Max Tani about Spotify’s decision to add content advisories to podcast episodes that discuss COVID-19 and related issues, such as vaccines. “This disclaimer, it’s a positive step, but we want every platform to be doing more to be calling out mis- and dis-information, while also uplifting accurate information,” Psaki said. “Ultimately, our view is that it is a positive step, but there is more that can be done.” Explore Explore Joe Rogan See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Our hope is that all major tech platforms, and all major news sources for that matter, be responsible and be vigilant to ensure the ...
White House on Spotify’s Joe Rogan Mess: ‘There Is More That Can Be Done’ to Inform Users
The White House is weighing in on the Spotfiy-Joe Rogan fiasco. White House press secretary Jen Psaski, in her daily press briefing, was asked by Politico’s Max Tani about Spotify’s decision to add content advisories to podcast episodes that discuss COVID-19 and related issues, such as vaccines. “This disclaimer, it’s a positive step, but we want every platform to be doing more to be calling out mis- and dis-information, while also uplifting accurate information,” Psaki said. “Ultimately, our view is that it is a positive step, but there is more that can be done.” Explore Explore Joe Rogan See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Our hope is that all major tech platforms, and all major news sources for that matter, be responsible and be vigilant to ensure the ...
Reddit co-founder’s VC raises $500 million, targets investment in crypto
The internet entrepreneur told Wall Street Journal that a significant fraction of the funds would be injected into crypto Elsewhere, Bahamas-headquartered FTX exchange yesterday revealed it had closed a $400 million in a Series C funding round 776 Management, the venture capital firm founded by Reddit co-creator Alexis Ohanian, has secured a $500 million raise across two of its funds. Wall Street Journal shared earlier today that the firm plans to allocate a sizeable portion of the funds into cryptocurrencies. In addition to blockchain ventures, the firms will also allot the funds to projects in other niches like climate and space exploration. “I’m proud to announce @sevensevensix has raised $500M for our two newest funds, bringing our total AUM to $750M. We’re just ...
