business
The Ledger: There’s Still Room for Consolidation in the Festival 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. For all the consolidation in the concert industry in the last decade, the festival business remains a diverse array of events operated by independent companies rather than the corporate behemoths. That’s one takeaway from Billboard’s new list of the top 50 music festivals of 2022 that considers the quality, size and cultural impact of the biggest and best events around the globe. The top 50 list is filled with potential mergers and acquisitions for growth-minded promoters: 35 of the top 50 festivals are owned by either independent promoters or, in a handful of cases, non-profit organizations. Some festivals are fewer th...
June roundup: Who’s hiring and who’s firing in the crypto space
Amid the recent volatility in the crypto market affecting investments and stock prices, many firms made significant staff cuts in the last month while others continued hiring. In June, major crypto exchange Gemini was among the first to reportedly cut 10% of its employees amid the bear market, saying conditions were “likely to persist for some time.” Coinbase and Crypto.com followed, announcing plans to reduce staff by 18% and 5%, respectively. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong cited the so-called crypto winter as part of the reason for the cuts, but also stated the firm had been growing “too quickly.” Market conditions largely have not changed following many decisions to downsize, and other firms have been forced to make cuts. Crypto lending firm BlockFi announced it would be reducing staff by...
Ignite CEO announces departure after seven years
Peng Zhong, the chief executive officer of Ignite — formerly Tendermint and backer of the Cosmos ecosystem — has announced he will be leaving the firm. In a Friday tweet to his more than 20,000 followers, Zhong said Friday will be his last day at Ignite, where he has been working as CEO since May 2020. Prior to that, the now-former Ignite CEO was chief design officer at the firm’s Kuala Lumpur and Toronto offices since he started in 2015. It’s unclear what led to his decision to leave the company. Today is my last day at Ignite. Thank you for the camaraderie we shared as we built out this ecosystem. It’s been an honor to be a part of this team and this community. I will miss you. — Peng Zhong (@zcpeng) July 1, 2022 Ignite, formerly known as Tendermint, is a core contributor to the Co...
Battle for Los Angeles Minifest Market Heats Up Between Live Nation and AEG
As the Southern California-Las Vegas corridor develops into the largest year-round U.S. festival market, rival live-industry giants Live Nation and AEG are battling for control through competing minifestivals — genre-specific, commuter-friendly events that require little or no travel commitment, have lower ticket prices and could work nationally, spurring growth in a crowded market. AEG-owned Goldenvoice once dominated that niche sector, but industry sources say the former talent buyer who delivered them there, Jeff Shuman, may have helped Live Nation build a superior model: a minifestival with the potential to generate Coachella-size attendance numbers. On Oct. 22, 23 and 29, Live Nation will debut When We Were Young, a pop-punk/emo minifest — headlined by My Chemical Romance and Paramore...
New Zealand Extends Copyright Term to 70 Years
New Zealand has agreed to extend the term of copyright in sound recordings, a development the domestic music industry is celebrating as a “long overdue change” that should further protect authors, performers and producers. Currently, NZ recording artists and right holders enjoy copyright protection on their recordings for 50 years from the date of release. Those protections will be extended to 70 years, thanks to a NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement — announced this week — which brings New Zealand’s copyright regulations into line with those across the European Union as a trading partner. Recorded Music NZ CEO Jo Oliver welcomes the outcome as one that places domestic artists and rights holders “on a level playing field with their overseas counterparts.” Oliver continues, “copyright enables artist...
Logic Signs With BMG After Def Jam Departure: ‘I’m Just Glad to Move On’
Logic has signed with BMG after exiting his previous deal with Def Jam, the Bertelsmann label announced Thursday (June 30). The first new music from the rapper-producer’s forthcoming studio album is expected soon. The international, multi-album partnership with BMG allows Logic to own his own sound recordings for the first time in his career. The move marks the artist’s first label switch since releasing his debut studio album, Under Pressure, via Def Jam in 2014. “There’s a lot of bulls— in the music industry,” Logic said in a statement. “I’m just glad to move on to a place where I can be independent and respected as an artist, and feel like I’m in control of my career.” Tim Reid, senior vp of repertoire and marketing at BMG, added, “As an artist, creator and entrepreneur, Logic is the pe...
Blizzard Eyes ‘Spellbreak’ Studio Acquisition to Push ‘World of Warcraft’ Development Efforts
Blizzard is reportedly eyeing an acquisition of Proletariat Inc., the video game developer behind third-person action-spellcaster Spellbreak. According to a new report from GamesBeat, the buyout comes as Blizzard hopes to bolster its World of Warcraft franchise with the help of Proletariat’s hundred-strong team of developers, especially for the upcoming Dragonflight expansion. While terms of the transaction were not publicly disclosed, the outlet claims it’ll be the biggest acquisition Blizzard has undertaken over the past decade, and the two companies have been working together since May. “We are putting players at the forefront of everything we do, and we are working hard to both meet and exceed their expectations,” said Blizzard president Mike Ybarra. “A critical part of ...
Ye Sued Over Sample Used on ‘Donda 2’ Track ‘Flowers’
Ye is facing yet another copyright infringement lawsuit over his unauthorized use of a sample, this time on a track from his most recent album, Donda 2. According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in New York on Wednesday (June 29), the rapper (referred to as Kanye West in the suit) sampled Marshall Jefferson’s 1986 house track “Move Your Body” (a.k.a. “The House Music Anthem”) on the song “Flowers” without gaining permission or providing compensation. The suit claims that the sample is “repeated at least 22 times throughout” Ye’s song. Filed by attorneys Christine Lepera and Bradley J. Mullins of the firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, the complaint was brought by Jefferson’s publisher Ultra International Music Publishing. Jefferson both wrote and performed “Move Your Body,” w...
FCC Commissioner Calls on Apple, Alphabet to Ban TikTok
A Federal Communications commissioner is urging Apple and Alphabet to remove TikTok from the companies’ app stores. According to a letter addressed to the chief executives of the companies, FCC commissioner Brendan Carr said TikTok poses an “unacceptable security risk” because it mines extensive user data, which is being accessed by employees in China. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “TikTok is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance — an organization that is beholden to the Communist Party of China and required by the Chinese law to comply with PRC’s surveillance demands,” reads the letter sent on Tuesday. TikTok has run into problems with the government over its parent company’s ties to China. In 2020, former Preside...
SXSW Expands Into Australia
Austin’s famed South by Southwest conference and festival is headed to Australia. The Texas-born event bring its famed celebration of the technology, film and music industries to Sydney, Australia across seven days and nights from Oct. 15-22, 2023. SXSW Sydney will bring together the industries of music, gaming, film, television, technology and innovation much like the American version that launched in 1987. “Every day of the year we connect people to each other, developing events and content that celebrate the inter-relatedness of current and emerging topics. We continue to push our own boundaries by evolving and expanding as we strive to deliver an experience of unexpected discovery and inspiration,” said SXSW CEO Roland Swenson in a release. “We believe that Sydney’s similar future-focu...
Who Will Lead Warner Music Next? The 12 Top Candidates to Fill Stephen Cooper’s Role
With the announcement last week that Stephen Cooper would be stepping down from his role as CEO of the Warner Music Group by the end of 2023, industry speculation has ramped up around who might replace him. Cooper took over WMG in the summer of 2011 at a time when the company and the music business at large were in very different places than they are now: industry revenues had been tanking for a decade with no end in sight; Spotify had launched in the United States just a month prior, with streaming still a speculative format; Warner was a newly private company under the umbrella of its then-new owner, Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries; and the music group, as with much of the recorded-music sector at the time, was struggling. Cooper at the time was chairman of the company’s board and had ...
The FAIR Act to Repeal California’s ‘Seven-Year Statute’ Amendment Fails in the State Senate
The major record companies emerged victorious as the Free Artists From Industry Restrictions (FAIR) Act failed to pass out of the California State Senate’s Judiciary committee on Tuesday (June 28) in Sacramento. The Fair Act, also known as AB Bill 983, received four votes, two short of the six needed to reach a majority from the 11-member committee. The bill was the latest effort to repeal a 1987 amendment to California’s “Seven-Year Statute” (a.k.a. California Labor Code Section 2855). That amendment allows record labels to sue artists for damages (including potential lost revenue) if they leave after seven years but before delivering the required number of albums in their contract. Though the committee addressed the bill early in the afternoon, it took until the conclusion of the 13...
