business
Esports Platform FaZe Clan Going Public in $1 Billion SPAC Deal
“We are thrilled to announce this important milestone of FaZe Clan’s plans to enter the public market,” Trink said in a statement announcing the move. “In our short history, we have evolved from a disruptive content generator to one of the world’s most decorated and successful esports franchises, and now into one of the younger generations’ most recognized and followed brands globally. We believe FaZe Clan is becoming the voice of youth culture, a brand that sits at the nexus of content, gaming, entertainment and lifestyle in the digital-native world. This transaction will provide us capital and access to the public markets, which will help us accelerate the expansion of our multi-platform and monetization strategy.” The deal, subject to approval by the boards of both FaZ...
Adele’s ‘Easy On Me’ Set For Second Week Atop U.K. Singles Chart
Adele’s first release in six years leads the First Look chart, which ranks tracks based on activity from the first 48 hours in the chart cycle. Further down the list, reunited EDM legends Swedish House Mafia and Canadian R&B star The Weeknd are on track for the week’s highest new entry, with “Moth To A Flame.” It’s new at No. 12 on the chart blast. Another new-ish release is ABBA’s “Just A Notion.” The track was originally cut during the Swedish pop group’s heyday in the late ‘70s, and officially released in full last Friday. It’s on course to give the foursome their 29th U.K. Top 40 single, the OCC reports. The latest single from their forthcoming album Voyage, due out Nov. 5, “Just A Notion” is eyeing a No. 14 bow. Finally, London rapper Digga D is locked-on for a ninth U...
Pandemic Strips Over $1B From Australia’s Live Entertainment Sector: Report
This “significant decline can be primarily attributed to COVID-19 restrictions,” explains the report, noting major tours from the likes of Pink, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry in 2018, and visits by U2 and Eminem in 2019, were absent from the touring calendar last year, as all three levels of government ordered the shutdown of gathering places to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. In a crippled market, “Contemporary Music,” a category that includes rock, pop and hip-hop concerts, was the largest genre, accounting for 51% of revenue, and, combined with festivals comprised 60% of total industry revenue and 43% of attendances. Don’t expect the data for 2021 to bring any cheer to the live business. The impacts of COVID-19 this year may be even greater, ...
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, MC Lyte, Big Freedia & More Inducted Into Ebony Power 100 Class of 2021
Jam & Lewis were presented with the lifetime achievement award by Janet Jackson via video and singer MAJOR. onstage. Thanking “God in the sky and god on earth, Clarence Avant — the Black Godfather,” his family and Ebony (“I saw people that looked like myself”), Jam said the pair’s award “isn’t a place to stop but a bar set high that we will continue to try to raise every day.” After doing a quick “happy dance,” Lewis thanked his family as well, adding, “You could be in Billboard, Variety or any other magazine, but you didn’t make it until you were in Ebony or Jet. That was the bar. I love awards, but I love the journey that I’ve been on … and the journey that I’m going to be on with you.” Also among the individual ...
Adele’s ‘Easy On Me’ Smashes Records En Route to U.K. No. 1
The new track carves up the competition with 217,300 chart sales in its first week, a tally not seen since Ed Sheeran’s “Shape Of You” packed-in 226,800 combined sales back in January 2017. Today, “Shape Of You” is the most-streamed song ever on Spotify. In its debut week, Adele’s “Easy On Me” accumulates 24 million streams in the U.K., a new mark beating the record set by Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings,” which registered 16.9 million U.K. streams back in January 2019. Also, according to the OCC, “Easy On Me” bags the biggest sum of digital download sales for 2021, with 23,500. “Easy On Me” is Adele’s first music release in six years, and it’s the first track taken from her forthcoming fourth album 30, due out Nov. 19. As anticipation builds, two of her earlier hits power back into t...
Coldplay Blasts to No. 1 In U.K. With ‘Music Of The Spheres’
The last figure to chalk-up six-figures in a week was Ed Sheeran’s No. 6 Collaborations Project, which started with 125,000 in July 2019. Pure sales accounted for 85% of Coldplay’s first week tally, a sum that included 12,400 on wax, enough to lead this week’s Official Vinyl Albums Chart. With the strong opening, Coldplay’s collaboration with BTS, “My Universe,” races 15-5 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, while “Let Somebody Go” featuring Selena Gomez, opens at No. 24, and “Higher Power” reenters at 26. Coldplay performed all three tracks live last week on CBS’ The Late Late Show With James Corden. With the unbroken, career-spanning run of No. 1s, Coldplay tie with Brandon Flowers, who also has a streak of nine consecutive chart-toppers across The Killers and his solo efforts. Noel Gall...
Here’s Where Genre-Bending Albums From Lil Nas X, Halsey, Miley Cyrus & More Landed for 2022 Grammys
Grammy voters have until Nov. 5 to make their choices. Even before first-round voting for the 64th annual Grammy Awards opened on Friday (Oct. 22), we knew that some albums wouldn’t be in the expected genre categories. Kacey Musgraves’ star-crossed was moved from best country album to best pop vocal album, while Bo Burnham’s Inside (The Songs) was slotted in best compilation soundtrack for visual media, not best comedy album, as had been expected. These were hardly the only albums that wound up on the Grammy ballot in places you might not expect. That’s bound to happen as artists increasingly cross genres. Albums often wind up right on the border between two or more genres. In those cases, the Recording Academy’s screening committee endeavors to put it in the most suitable category. Here a...
Adele Blasts to No. 1 In Australia With ‘Easy On Me’
As excitement builds ahead of the Nov. 19 release of 30, Adele’s “Someone Like You” and “Rolling In The Deep” re-enter the chart at No. 40 and 43, respectively, while her three previous albums all enjoy sales spikes. Adele’s latest leads a Top 5 that’s rounded out by Elton John and Dua Lipa’s “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix” (holding at No. 2 via Warner/Universal), The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber’s “Stay” (down 1-3 via Columbia/Sony), and a pair of Ed Sheeran tracks, “Bad Habits” (down 3-4 via Atlantic/Warner) and “Shivers” (down 4-5 via Warner), respectively. Meanwhile, Coldplay secure a seventh ARIA albums chart crown with Music Of The Spheres (Parlophone/Warner), as it rolls to No. 1 on debut. Coldplay hold off The Beatles’ classic final album Let It Be (USM/Universal), which roars to No....
All Eyes on Him: Why Bo Burnham’s ‘Inside’ Could Be a Big Four Grammys Contender
Bo Burnham’s ‘Inside (The Songs)’ aims for where few comedians have gone before: the Big Four. This story is part of Billboard’s 2022 Grammy Preview issue, highlighting the artists, issues and trends that will define awards season. Read our cover story on Halsey, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross here. Tyler Arnold was only 20 minutes into Bo Burnham’s latest musical comedy special, Bo Burnham: Inside, released on Netflix in May, when he started searching for the songs online. When he couldn’t find them, the Republic Records A&R executive immediately reached out to the comedian’s team to change that. The album Inside (The Songs) arrived on streaming platforms on June 10, and it has remained on the Billboard 200 for 19 weeks, including five in the top 10...
IMPALA Unveils First Annual Diversity & Inclusion Report
Highlights outlined in the first annual report include a pair of diversity and inclusion training sessions for members, the release of the first D&I survey for independent music businesses during European Diversity Month in May and the appointment of diversity advocates on all IMPALA committees. The organization also launched a D&I task force advised by music manager and consultant Keith Harris OBE and co-chaired by Eva Karman Reinhold of Swedish indie label association SOM and Paul Pacifico of the U.K.’s Association of Independent Music (AIM). Below is a more detailed look at the report. Surveys: The ongoing D&I survey process is being conducted with two classes: IMPALA member businesses and associations. The separate surveys were designed to incorporate the protect...
APRA AMCOS Powers to Record Revenue, Despite Impact of COVID-19
The results are published in the APRA AMCOS’s Year In Review. On closer look, the APRA AMCOS financial year is a reflection of the two-speed music economy, one where digital is thriving, and those portfolios engaged with live entertainment — including public performance income and background music royalties — are in the doldrums. Those banner results, say the organization, belies “the financial hardship affecting local music creators” whose livelihoods have been crushed by the pandemic. With millions of music fans stuck at home, the brightest spot was streaming. Thanks to audio streaming services and on-demand services, digital revenue was essentially “pandemic proof,” according to a statement accompanying the PRO’s full-year financial results. Digital income grew during the pe...
Triller & Veteran Exec Steve Rifkind Launch Spring Singles Artist Discovery Platform
“We’re creating a new pathway to finding and launching the kind of raw talent that makes people stop and say, ‘Whoa, there’s a new star,’” said Rifkind in a statement. “Triller’s ability to amplify these new voices to the right audiences using their AI tools and sophisticated marketing is the way we hope to empower new voices so they can have a very real opportunity to potentially break through. We want to create a rhythm to our song releases. By scheduling them every two weeks, we will hopefully have created something that people pay attention to and look forward to. We have already found some amazing talent that we can’t wait to introduce.” Added Mahi de Silva, CEO of TrillerNet, parent company of Triller, Verzuz, FITE, Triller Fight Club, TrillerVerz and Amplify.ai, “Steve Rifkind is sy...
