business
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...
After Rocky Launch, HitPiece Is Trying to Recruit Artists to the Platform
After sparking music industry outrage over a plan to auction an NFT for every song in the world — without first securing rights holders’ permission — NFT platform HitPiece now reaching out to artists’ teams in hopes of forging official partnerships. Co-founder Rory Felton also tells Billboard the company has hired Gary Greenstein of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati “to represent the company in discussions with rights owners and to advise HitPiece on legal matters.” After HitPiece’s beta launch in caught the industry’s attention in February for pulling artwork and other information off of Spotify without artists’ permission, the backlash caused Felton’s company to pull its site offline. Days later, the RIAA — on behalf of the major labels — threatened a lawsuit against HitPiece and...
Luna Foundation Guard raises $1B to form UST reserve denominated in Bitcoin
The nonprofit organization focused on the open-source stablecoin network behind Terra USD, Luna Foundation Guard, has closed on a $1 billion raise through the sale of LUNA tokens. In a Tuesday tweet, Terra said Jump Crypto and Three Arrows Capital led the $1 billion round with participation from DeFiance Capital, Republic Capital, GSR, Tribe Capital and others. The platform said proceeds from the sale — $1 billion — would “go towards establishing a Bitcoin-denominated Forex Reserve for UST,” a stablecoin in the Terra ecosystem. 1/ The long awaited [REDACTED] 3 is here! The Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) has closed a $1 billion private token sale to establish a decentralized $UST Forex Reserve denominated in $BTC! — Terra (UST) Powered by LUNA (@terra_money) February 22, 2022 “One common ...
Journalist alleges Mimo Capital co-founder was behind 2016 exploit of The Dao: Report
Laura Shin, a cryptocurrency journalist and host of the Unchained Podcast, claimed to have discovered the identity of the individual behind an exploit which drained more than 3.6 million Ether from Germany-based startup Slock.it’s The DAO in 2016. According to a Tuesday Bloomberg report, Shin claimed that she had “extremely strong evidence” that Mimo Capital co-founder Toby Hoenisch was responsible for removing more than 3.6 million Ether (ETH) from The DAO in June 2016 — roughly $50 million at the time. An unknown hacker used an exploit to drain roughly a third of The DAO’s ETH supply, forcing developers to hard fork the network and leaving the illicit funds in what became the Ethereum Classic (ETC) blockchain. EXCLUSIVE: With the publication of my book today, I can finally announce: in t...
UMG Launches Def Jam India Amid Hip-Hop Boom
MUMBAI —Universal Music Group, already home to some of the biggest names in Indian hip-hop, are further seizing on the popularity of the genre there by starting a new label division, Def Jam India. The new sub-label, to be based in Mumbai, will feature some popular commercial names and up-and-coming artists, but not necessarily household names like Badshah, with whom Universal is working to engineer a definitive crossover to international stardom. Def Jam India “will be infused and inspired by local street and rap culture, Indian sounds and unique multi-lingual flows,” said Devraj Sanyal, managing director and CEO, Universal Music India and South Asia. Def Jam India’s first artist signings are rappers Dino James and Fotty Seven. “Lost” from James and Fotty Seven’s “Banjo,” both of which ar...
UK law firm Gunnercooke starts accepting crypto payments for legal services
Gunnercooke says one of its clients, Attestant, has already paid up for services in Ether Crypto adoption will also favour partners at the firm who would prefer getting paid in alternative methods As mainstream crypto adoption continues rising, more industries and sectors are trying their bit to incorporate these digital assets. In the US, a number of legal firms have been accepting crypto for a while now, including Steptoe & Johnson, Perkins Coie, Frost Brown Todd, McLaughlin & Stern, and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. In the UK, law firm Gunnercooke revealed yesterday that it started accepting crypto payments in Bitcoin and Ether. The move, Gunnercooke said, made it the first among major firms in the country to do so. In taking legal fees in crypto, the firm intends to su...
Bitpanda acquires London-based crypto custodian Trustology
This is the first acquisition deal for the crypto exchange headquartered in Vienna The exchange views the acquisition as a step toward its goal of debuting a Prime Brokerage service Austrian cryptocurrency exchange Bitpanda has completed an acquisition deal for institutional-grade DeFi custodian wallet provider Trustology. Neither party revealed the specifics, but according to a source familiar with the developments, the deal is in the range of eight figures in US dollars. This is the first acquisition the exchange has completed and represents a stride towards unveiling brokerage services under the Bitpanda Pro platform. “The introduction of Bitpanda Custody is the first step in launching a Prime Brokerage offering under Bitpanda Pro to go alongside the regulated digital asset ...
Amber Group completes $200M Series B+ funding round featuring Temasek Holdings
Amber Group extended its Series B funding as a special effort to bring Temasek around the investors’ table The raised funds will support global expansion and grow its OpenVerse and WhaleFin products According to a press release shared on Monday, leading digital asset platform, Amber Group confirmed that it had completed a $200 million Series B+ funding round led by Singapore-based investment firm Temasek Holdings. The raise also saw participation from other investors, including Tiger Global Management, Sequoia China, Coinbase Ventures, and Pantera Capital. The round’s completion at a $3 billion valuation represents three times as large as the valuation the firm reached in June 2021, the last time when capital was raised. It also brings the sum raised by Amber Group since its in...
Huobi is planning a comeback in the US market, but not as an exchange
Huobi Tech co-founder Du Jun confirmed in an interview that the exchange is mulling a return into the US The exchange is, however, seeking to re-enter the market in the lines of asset management as opposed to an exchange Crypto exchange Huobi has plans to enter the US market, targeting a different sub-niche. Speaking in an interview with CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal, Huobi co-founder Du Jun expressed the company’s desire to expand into the US. Jun explained that Huobi was ready to get back into the competitive US market after redefining its strategy. The Huobi brand operated in the US market for a short while between 2018 and 2019 through– a US-based entity called Huobi US. The entity failed to stick the landing and consequently withdrew from the market in December 2019, citing regulat...
