business
From Vinyl Variants to NFTs, Inside 2021’s Collecting Craze
The spike in vinyl has been at a steady incline for over a decade, with sales growing year over year since the mid-2000s. But, during a pandemic in which concerts were canceled and music fans were kept inside, interest in vinyl exploded, dating back to July 2020 and continued with vinyl unit sales in the United States growing 81% as of October 2021, according to MRC Data (compared with 46.2% by the end of 2020). That growth now suggests an estimated year-end 2021 revenue of $1 billion. Interestingly, around the same time that a time-honored physical format started to soar, so too did the very intangible, very online non-fungible tokens in the music space. (An NFT is a one-of-a-kind digital token that exists on a blockchain, most often Ethereum, which is the second most popular cryptocurren...
Here are Music’s Major NFT Moments This Year
While non-fungible tokens have been around for years, buying and selling these blockchain-powered collectibles was relegated to cryptocurrency circles. But there was a noticeable shift in early 2021, when the market for music-related NFTs skyrocketed from $306,000 in sales during December 2020 to $26,756,243 in March 2021, according to tech newsletter Water & Music. The spike proved that what was once a niche, tech-savvy market became music’s next revolution — or at least a way for artists to make a quick buck as the pandemic stretched on. Illmind Sells Samples and Beats as NFTs Grammy-winning producer Illmind released the first-ever melody/sample loop pack as an NFT, opening a new practical use for the token in the music business. By purchasing this NFT, buyers could use the samples i...
Valkyrie’s latest ETF offering has exposure to Bitcoin
Crypto asset manager Valkyrie has launched an exchange-traded fund with exposure to Bitcoin on the Nasdaq Stock Market. In a Wednesday SEC filing, Valkyrie said its Balance Sheet Opportunities ETF will not invest directly in Bitcoin (BTC) but 80% of its net assets would offer exposure to the crypto asset through securities of U.S. companies with BTC on their balance sheets. These companies may include custodians, crypto exchanges, and traders. The filing specifies that Valkyrie’s ETF may invest up to 10% of its net assets in securities of Bitcoin mining firms, as well as up to 5% in the securities of pooled investment vehicles in the U.S. that hold BTC. At the time of publication, shares of the fund under the ticker VBB are trading for $24.48, having fallen more than 1.5% since launch...
‘Free Larry Hoover’ Producer Randy Phillips Tapped by TEG to Create More Artist-Owned Events
Entertainment veteran Randy Phillips has joined the board of Australian live entertainment company TEG, one week after producing and promoting Ye and Drake‘s sold-out Free Larry Hoover benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Dec. 9. TEG and majority owner Silver Lake Capital — which also has investments in Oak View Group and Endeavor (which owns WME) — financed the sold-out “Free Larry Hoover” concert, which was organized in just three weeks. Phillips hired the production team for the concert, including Rob Hallett from U.K. outfit Robomagic Live, production manager Bryon “Hot Dog” Tate and Roadwerx’s Steven Dixon. “The four of us became DONDA Touring, supporting Kanye and working directly for him,” Phillips says. “That meant complete transparency in terms of the economics,...
Kazakhstan’s central bank reports results on CBDC pilot project
Kazakhstan, the country behind one of the largest sources of Bitcoin mining hash power, has released the results of a pilot program for its digital tenge. According to a Wednesday report, the National Bank of Kazakhstan, or NBK, said it had confirmed the possibility of implementing a retail central bank digital currency, or CBDC, based on distributed ledger technology. In addition, the central bank tested how Kazakhstan’s citizens might use a digital tenge for offline payments as well as its programmability. In a series of hypothetical scenarios, the central bank tested how a CBDC could be used between second-tier banks and other external participants. The tests also explored how a digital tenge would work for cross-border transactions under Kazakhstan’s regulatory framework. Source:...
Warner Music Group Acquires 300 Entertainment in $400M Deal
300 Entertainment, the independent music company that is home to Megan Thee Stallion, Young Thug, Gunna, Fetty Wap, Highly Suspect and more, has been purchased by the Warner Music Group, the companies announced today (Dec. 16). News of the acquisition — which sources tell Billboard is for around $400 million — was first reported by Billboard earlier this month. As part of the deal, 300 co-founder and CEO Kevin Liles has been appointed chairman/CEO of both 300, which will remain a standalone entity, and Elektra Music Group, which encompasses Fueled By Ramen, Roadrunner Records, DTA, Low Country Sound and Public Consumption. Elektra co-presidents Gregg Nadel and Mike Easterlin will continue to run Elektra, but will now report to Liles moving forward. “At 300, we’re all about freedom — the fr...
Video Game Giant Embracer Group to Acquire ‘Catan’ Boardgame Company Asmodee for $3 Billion USD
Video game giant Embracer Group is now looking to acquire tabletop gaming company Asmodee for upwards of $3 billion USD. According to a new report from Kotaku, the parent company of Darksiders publisher THQ Nordic, Metro Exodus publisher Deep Silver, and Borderlands developer Gearbox is in talks to purchase one of the largest board game companies in the world, responsible for massively popular titles such as Catan, Pandemic, 7 Wonders and Ticket to Ride. It also owns licenses to a roster of popular IPs such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Disney, Arkham, and even Pokémon. The deal will cost €2.75 billion EUR (approx. $3.1 billion USD) but Embracer intends on keeping Asmodee running as it is, “[operating] as before the t...
The Giving Block launches crypto donation service for high-net worth individuals
The Giving Block, an online platform which allows nonprofit organizations and charities to accept digital asset donations, has launched a service tailored to donors wishing to send large amounts of crypto. In a Wednesday announcement, the Giving Block said it partnered with crypto tax startup Taxbit, New York-based accounting firm Friedman LLP, and Ren to start a service aimed at individuals, institutions, and advisors looking to reduce their tax exposure when donating crypto. Giving Block co-founder Pat Duffy said the Private Client Services streamlines its existing donation process allowing “high-value donors to quickly and securely give large gifts to their favorite charities while reducing their tax bill.” According to the platform, individuals wishing to make large donations in crypto...
Voyager Digital will be crypto brokerage partner for National Women’s Soccer League
Crypto trading platform Voyager Digital has inked a deal with the National Women’s Soccer League, or NWSL, aiming to provide players crypto education and financial support. In a Tuesday announcement, Voyager said it would become the league’s first cryptocurrency brokerage partner as part of a multi-year deal. The trading platform said a “significant amount” of the investment would fund rostered players’ crypto accounts. There are expected to be 12 teams in the NWSL starting in 2022, so up to 312 players could benefit from the Voyager partnership. “Voyager’s investment in the league is especially innovative because we’ve collectively designed the partnership to include direct financial resources for every one of our players, as well as education on the revolutionary ...
Sony Music, Anghami Form Arabic Record Label With a Global Scope
Sony Music Middle East and top Arab music streamer Anghami have teamed up to launch Vibe Music Arabia, a new joint-venture record label designed to support the Arabic artist community in Saudi Arabia and the Levant and wider GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) regions. The wholly independent label, which was first announced at MDLBEAST’s XP Music Conference in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, this week, “will act as a creative, accelerator and educational hub” aimed at empowering Arabian musicians, songwriters, producers and content creators both regionally and globally, according to a press release. Music put out by Vibe Music Arabia will be released on all streaming platforms and services around the world in an effort to score breakthroughs for its artists in countries outside the Middle East. Taking t...
How Spotify Helped Nearly 300 Afghan Music Students and Teachers Reach Portugal
On Dec. 1, Elizabeth Nieto‘s boss at Spotify — chief human resources officer Katarina Berg — learned that nearly 300 Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) students and teachers and their families were in limbo in Doha, Qatar. Promised asylum in Lisbon, Portugal, they were attempting to charter a plane to the European city and needed money. “See what we can do,” Berg told Nieto, the streaming giant’s global head of equity and impact. Nieto had to wrangle with Spotify’s in-house lawyers to cut a sizable check for the plane by Dec. 6; on Monday (Dec. 13), the SAS flight carrying 273 Afghans landed in Lisbon, where the musicians and faculty members will be able to recreate their school. “The renaissance of Afghanistan music will start in Lisbon,” Nieto says. “We have an opportunity to...
U.K. Introduces Vaccine Passports for Clubs and Venues
LONDON – New restrictions for nightclubs and music venues in England have been introduced to tackle a sharp rise in cases of the coronavirus omicron variant. Members of Parliament backed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s controversial ‘Plan B’ measures on Tuesday (Dec. 14), with 369 MPs voting in favor of making COVID-19 vaccine passports a legal requirement to enter clubs and some concert halls, versus 126 against. The rules come into force on Wednesday, meaning that people aged over 18 in England will need to show they’ve either had two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine or proof of a negative test taken in the past 48 hours to enter a number of music venues, including nightclubs and indoor unseated venues with more than 500 people. Proof of vaccine status via an NHS Covid Pass is also needed fo...
