business
Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande & More Receive iHeartRadio Titanium Awards for Reaching 1 Billion Audience Spins
Lipa alone is being honored for “Levitating,” according to iHeart, because the 1 billion total audience spin figure includes both her solo version and the remix featuring DaBaby. The remix alone doesn’t meet the criteria. These are the first titanium award recipients announced in 2021. The total audience spins calculation is based on Mediabase airplay and is multiplied by the number of persons listening to the radio at the time of those plays, delivering total audience impressions, which iHeart regards as the broadcast equivalent of the number of streams from a streaming music service. Post Malone and Shawn Mendes were the top titanium award winners in 2020, taking three awards each. Posty scored with “Sunflower,” “Wow” and “Circles”; Mendes with “...
California Regulator Claims Riot Games Silenced Employees Over Harassment and Discrimination Complaints
Straight after taking action against Activision Blizzard for alleged sexual harassment and gender discrimination, California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing has now gone after another company within the gaming industry, this time claiming that Riot Games had silenced its employees from issuing complaints over the same harassment and discrimination within the workplace. In 2019, following a year of litigation, Riot Games had settled a lawsuit with employees over claims that it had fostered a gender-discriminating and toxic workplace culture. Following an investigation by the DFEH, the department found that the language used within that settlement had to the chilling effect of deterring Riot employees from speaking up against the same behavior. “Agreements that attempt to bar ind...
The Killers’ ‘Pressure Machine’ Is Powering to No. 1 In U.K.
Also, notes the OCC, three of The Killers’ albums — Hot Fuss, Sam’s Town (2006) and Day & Age (2008) — have notched over one million U.K. chart sales, with the former bagging more than two million. Hot Fuss single “Mr Brightside” is one of the most popular tracks in the U.K. this century. In April of this year, the song logged a record-extending 260th non-consecutive week — a full five years — on the national singles chart. Meanwhile, electronic outfit Jungle are swinging to a third successive Top 10 album, with Loving In Stereo (Caiola). It’s new at No. 2 on the Official U.K. Chart Update, and is set to best the No. 7 peak of their Mercury Prize-nominated self-titled debut from 2014. Loving In Stereo is the best-selling album on wax in the first half of the wee...
Watford FC Gets Sponsorship From Dogecoin
English Premiere League team Watford Football Club has received a sponsorship from Dogecoin, with the iconic Shiba Inu dog appearing on the Watford shirt sleeves. San Francisco-based sports site The Athletic first reported on the partnership, which is worth about £700,000 GBP ($967,00 USD) and will break from the team’s previous partnership with Bitcoin. The deal is in collaboration with crypto casino and sports betting platform Stake.com, which announced in July that it had inked a multi-year partnership with the team, paid for in cryptocurrency. To mark the partnership, Stake.com said it would be launching several crypto-themed initiatives, including a 10 million Dogecoin giveaway through their platform. The company also serves as UFC’s first-ever betting partner in Latin Ameri...
JAY-Z Applies for New York Sports Betting License To Form ‘Fanatics Sportsbook’
After taking part in a $325 million USD investment in Fanatics last week, JAY-Z, along with his full-service entertainment company Roc Nation, has partnered with the sports e-commerce platform’s owner Michael Rubin to apply for a New York gaming license to create Fanatics Sportsbook, according to Forbes. According to official documents filed with the New York State Gaming Commission, JAY-Z will assume a vice chairman position on the board of directors for a new “Fanatics Betting & Gaming” organization, while Rubin will be the new chief executive. “Fanatics Sportsbook will use one of the largest sports fan databases in North America and proven sports betting platform and player account management technology to operate sports wagering in New York,” the entity wrote in its application. Th...
Music Companies Delay Return to Office, Mandating Vaccines
Moore adds that the highly-global nature of the Spotify workforce — the company boasts 50 offices across 25 countries — made instituting a blanket vaccine mandate even more challenging. “In some countries, in some regions, it would actually be illegal to do so,” says Moore, “and so we’re just sort of taking the stance that people will make good decisions.” Notably, local ordinances in major urban centers could force companies’ hands. Earlier this month, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that a proof of vaccination will be required to enter indoor restaurants, gyms and performance venues in the city starting on Aug. 16 — though the order does not yet apply to offices. Last Tuesday, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted to look...
Maffio Launches ‘Alkatraks Music’ Record Label with New Artist Calacote: ‘This Is For the Culture’ (Exclusive)
It all begins with Calacote (real name: Luca Newton), a 22-year-old ambitious singer-songwriter who was born in North Carolina and is of Dominican and French descent. He describes his leap of faith as the ultimate “cinematic hustle move.” He began exploring music about two years ago but never thought he could pursue a career in it. He discovered his talent and passion for composing music in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and took his shot. He packed up his stuff, left Canada, where he was in grad school, moved first to New York, and later to Miami. After a few months of living in Miami, in December to be exact, he decided to direct message Maffio on Instagram. Twenty minutes later Maffio replied, they met up, and the rest is history. On Aug. 20, Calacote will be dropping his de...
Disney+ Surpasses Expectations To Hit 116 Million Subscribers
Disney has once again hit a new milestone with its very own Disney+ streaming service, beating out the Wall Street-expected 112.8 million subscribers to now boast 116 million subscribers globally after adding another 12.4 million during the third quarter of 2021 ending July 3. The new achievement comes even after Disney increased the price of its service by a dollar to now $7.99 USD a month back in March. Revenues also surpassed expectations, with the media giant recording a 45 percent growth year over year. The company’s CFO Christine McCarthy attributes much of the new subscriber success to Disney+ Hotstar, a streaming service specifically catered to India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, accounting for almost 40 percent of the 116 million. Despite the strong numbers, Variety poin...
Recording Academy’s Bill Freimuth, Lourdes Lopez and Lisa Farris Depart Following Restructuring: Exclusive
Lopez had worked at the Academy since 2002 in communications and marketing, and was promoted to VP, communications in July 2019. Farris joined in 2019 as chief digital officer, before moving to chief marketing and innovation officer last August. Mason has made other changes over the past 20 months since being named interim president/CEO in January 2020, after the Academy placed new president/CEO Deborah Dugan on leave. She was subsequently terminated in March 2020. After becoming permanent CEO/president in May (and resigning as board of trustees chair), Mason quickly relinquished the president’s title weeks later, naming Valeisha Butterfield Jones and Panos A. Panay as co-presidents in early June. Butterfield Jones was initially hired as the Academy’s first chief dive...
INXS’ ‘The Very Best’ Sets Chart Record In Australia
Inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001, INXS remain one of the country’s “most adored and iconic acts,” Herd notes. The hits collection was released in 2011 and features such classics as “Never Tear Us Apart,” “Original Sin” and Billboard Hot 100 leader “Need You Tonight.” Last November, The Very Best was awarded “Diamond” status, for combined sales in-excess of 500,000 in Australia. During its journey, The Very Best ruled the national tally for seven weeks and came in at No. 1 on ARIA’s End Of Decade Australian Albums Chart. “It is truly amazing news, to hear INXS’s The Very Best has been in the Top 100 album charts for nine years,” comments founding band member Andrew Farriss. INXS formed 44 years ago in Perth, Western Australia, and would g...
Ed Sheeran’s ‘Bad Habits’ Holds at No. 1 on U.K. Chart
The week’s highest new entry belongs to The Weeknd, whose “Take My Breath” is new at No. 13 (Republic Records/XO) for the Canadian artist’s 18th Top 20 hit in the U.K. Also new to the chart is KSI and Lil Wayne’s “Lose” (BMG), arriving at No. 18, while Olivia Rodrigo snags her seventh Top 40 appearance with Sour track “Jealousy Jealousy” (Geffen), new at No. 36. Over on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, Dave returns to the summit with We’re All Alone In This Together (Dave Neighbourhood), up 2-1, and swapping places with Eilish’s sophomore album. The highest new entry in the current cycle is Will Young’s covers set Crying On The Bathroom Floor (Cooking Vinyl), new at No. 3. It’s the former Pop Idol’s eighth consecutive Top 3 studio album. Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour d...
Louder Than Life Festival to Require COVID-19 Vaccines or Negative Tests
Fans, artists, and staff at Louisville music festival Louder Than Life will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test result, Louder Than Life says. “To protect the health of our fans, artists, staff and crew, all attendees will be required to show proof of either a full COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test,” organizers wrote in a statement. “For fans who are not fully vaccinated, a negative COVID-19 test result must be obtained within 72-hours of the first day of coming into the campgrounds or festival grounds.” Masks will be required in any indoor spaces, regardless of vaccination status. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It be...
