business
UK Parliament Inquiry Recommends ‘Complete Reset’ of Streaming Business
But the committee’s report goes further, concluding in sweeping fashion that the global streaming model pioneered and dominated by Spotify, Apple, YouTube and Amazon Music, is unsustainable in its current form. “Streaming has undoubtedly helped save the music industry following two decades of digital piracy, but it is clear that what has been saved does not work for everyone,” the committee writes in its 200-page report. “The issues ostensibly created by streaming simply reflect more fundamental, structural problems within the recorded music industry. Streaming needs a complete reset.” In 2020, roughly two-thirds of Spotify’s global streams came from music distributed by the major record labels, Spotify said in a March 19 written submission to the DCMS committee, although that total ...
Warner Music Group Elects Nancy Dubuc to Board of Directors; Thomas Lee Stepping Down
“Nancy is an exceptional addition to the board,” said Len Blavatnik, vice chairman of the WMG board and founder and chairman of Access Industries. “Her experience in visual and digital media, combined with her knowledge of youth culture and the entertainment market, make her well suited to help guide WMG’s growth. I would also like to thank Tom for his many years of valuable service on the board, and I’m pleased that we’ll be able to call on his expertise in the future.” Added Dubuc, “Music now lives in many different forms, across cultures, technologies, and media. Warner’s dynamic, global approach to creativity and commerce, along with the powerful value proposition it offers artists and songwriters, make it a truly progressive and exciting company. I’m looking forward to working with ev...
SBA Has Approved 43% of Shuttered Venue Grant Applications
Of those notified of their awards, 2,374 are live music venue operators or promoters and 734 are talent representatives. Live performing arts organizations have received 1,777 award notifications. In addition, the SBA has “come to a decision on eligibility” for another 5,902 applicants, which means they will soon be notified of their applications success, failure or need for revision. Monday’s numbers show the SBA has “decisioned” 86% of the total 15,026 applications submitted. The administration has another 11% of applications in review and 3% waiting to be reviewed. As of midday Monday, the SBA has disbursed $3.3 billion in federal funding to venues, promoters, talent agencies, zoos, museums and movie theaters since May 26. Another $1.7 billion has...
Dangote Cement acquires 2,000 new vehicles to enhance transportation
Dangote Cement Plc has acquired 20,000 additional vehicles to enhance the distribution of the company’s cement products in the country. The company’s Spokesman, Tony Chiejine, said in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday in Lokoja that the new vehicles, made up of trucks, trailers and tippers, were acquired at a cost of $150 million US dollars. According to him, the company had recently taken delivery of another set of trucks, trailers, bulk tankers, tippers, cargo trucks and bulk cement tankers. “These assets would meet the expected increase in demand for transportation of cement to every part of the country and create employment for over 4,000 people in Nigeria,” he said. “We have acquired the new trucks in line with our new expansion capacity in Obajana, Ibese, Gboko and the ...
Ed Sheeran’s ‘Bad Habits’ Leads U.K. Chart Race as Soccer Anthems Score Early
After 48 hours, “Three Lions” was the second-most streamed song with 2.17 million plays, and the fourth most downloaded song of the week so far, according to the OCC. Meanwhile, Atomic Kitten’s “Southgate You’re The One (Football’s Coming Home Again),” a reworking of their 2001 chart-leader “Whole Again,” lifts to No. 10 on the chart blast. If it holds its momentum when the Official U.K. Singles Chart is published this Friday, it would give the pop outfit their first Top 40 single in 16 years. With England losing a nailbiter to Italy, expect the frenzy for football songs to cool dramatically in the days ahead. In other chart news, London rapper Dave’s “Clash” featuring Brit Award-winner Stormzy is on track for the highest debut, at No. 4; while BTS’s latest “Permission to Dance” is cl...
Sony Music Publishing to Represent AC/DC, Vanda, Young and Wright Catalogs
Additionally, the music publishing giant strikes a worldwide deal to represent the song catalog of Harry Vanda, George Young, and Stevie Wright. “We are pleased to join forces with Alberts to deliver new opportunities for AC/DC and Vanda, Young and Wright,” comments Sony Music Publishing chairman and CEO Jon Platt. David Albert and the Alberts team, he continues, “are leaders in shaping Australia’s modern music culture, and our shared ethos will be powerful in sustaining the global impact of these iconic catalogs.” AC/DC signed with the family-owned Alberts back in 1974 and they’ve been back in black ever since. The Rock Hall-inducted band has released 17 studio albums, including 2020’s Power Up, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, their third leader. With that LP, AC/DC bec...
Virgin Music Forges Label Services Pact in Brazil With WorkShow
Under the new partnership, Universal says WorkShow has signed sertanejo duo Henrique & Juliano, which is bringing their entire catalog spanning their nine-year career. The act, which has 13.2 million subscribers on YouTube had the top streaming track in Brazil in 2020, “Liberdade Provisória,” according to IFPI. The act was already a WorkShow management client and was signed to Som Livre. The deal underscores the interest that sertanejo, Brazil’s pop-country genre, has continued to generate among the majors. With artists like Jorge & Mateus dominating streaming charts in Brazil, in April Sony Music Entertainment spent about $255 million to acquire Som Livre, the country’s third-largest label and leading sertanejo imprint, from Grupo Globo. The deal, which followed an intense bidding...
Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Sour’ Narrowly Beats Queen’s ‘Greatest Hits’ For U.K. Chart Crown
The rock legends’ career retrospective enjoys a spike thanks to a 40th anniversary reissue campaign. According to the charts compiler, 78% of Queen’s final total during the week was made up of physical sales (vinyl, CD and cassette) with Greatest Hits the best-selling vinyl album of the chart week. Elsewhere on the tally, Jack Savoretti’s Europiana (EMI) is the week’s best-seller on downloads, despite dipping 1-4, while Bo Burnham’s Inside (The Songs) (via Imperial) lifts 6-5, a new peak. Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie and French artist Jehnny Beth score a No. 12 debut with their collaborative effort Utopian Ashes (Sony Music CG). It’s Gillespie’s 13th Top 40 appearance, the first as a solo artist, and it’s Beth’s first appearance in the upper reaches of the chart. Over on the...
Two arrested in Gombe over fertiliser adulteration
The Gombe State Police Command has arrested two suspects for buying and selling adulterated fertiliser in Gombe, the state capital. According to a statement issued by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Mary Malum, in Gombe on Friday, the arrest was made on July 4. Malum said the arrest was made by Police detectives attached to the State Criminal Investigation Department that acted on credible intelligence. She said the suspects were “one Ibrahim Salisu, 26 years from Marke village, Kankara LGA, Katsina State and one Maina Bukar, 46 years from Biu LGA, Borno State, who is the buyer here in Gombe State”. According to the PRO, the suspects had confessed to have been in “this dirty and unlawful business where the said Ibrahim Salisu who is the supplier brings the unbranded and misbrand...
Steven Van Zandt Praises Educators While Being Honored by American Federation of Teachers
“There are no wrong answers in the arts,” Van Zandt said. “The arts provide a comfort zone, and that extends to other disciplines. I can’t overstate my appreciation for all you do and for this award. I salute you. You are helping to create the next generation of engineers, scientists, doctors, nurses, artists, activists, writers and even musicians.” Van Zandt is a founding member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and also leads his own group, the Disciples of Soul. Additionally, he is an award-winning actor and a noted activist. With the E Street Band, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the musical excellence category in 2014. With the rest of the cast of HBO’s The Sopranos, Van Zandt received two SAG Awards (and seven nominations) for outstanding performance in a dr...
Tencent Music Spared From Forced Sales in China Regulatory Crackdown
The government action is part of a broader attempt by Beijing to regulate its domestic technology sector, which grew rapidly after years of relatively little regulation. Since last December, regulators have fined 11 companies, including Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba and ByteDance, for failing to disclose past acquisitions and investments. News of the regulatory fines sent shares of Tencent Music Entertainment on the New York Stock Exchange down more than 10% on Wednesday and Thursday to $12.69 a share. Shares of other Chinese tech companies listed in the U.S., including JD.com, Alibaba and Pinduoduo, also slid. (TME rebounded slightly on Friday, up 1.5% to $12.88.) Still, despite the sweeping penalties enacted, the lack of forced divestitures seemed to allay investor concerns that Tencent Music ...
JAY-Z Enters Trading Card Market With Investment in Certified Collectibles Group
JAY-Z is once again expanding his business portfolio and this time, he is hopping onto the ever-growing trend of the collectible market. His company, Roc Nation has recently invested in Blackstone’s majority stake acquisition in Certified Collectibles Group. Certified Collectibles Group (CCG) is a company that focuses on authenticating collectibles such as trading cards, comic books, magazines, stamps, banknotes and many more. The $500 million USD transaction saw additional investors such as Fanatics founder Michael Rubin, NBA guard Andre Iguodala and Philadelphia 76ers basketball operations president Dary Morey join in the funding round. Bloomberg, which calls Blackstone the “world’s largest alternative investment firm,” reportedly saw the company’s share rise 0.3 percent last week after ...
