business
NCS: Nigerian government to inaugurates Funtua inland dry port November
The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, will in November inaugurate the ongoing Funtua Inland Dry Port project in Sokoto State. Also the French government has indicated its interest in collaborating with its Nigerian counterpart and therefore hinted that it will assist the government in form of financial assistance to the sector. The Executive Secretary/CEO Nigerian Shipper’s Council (NSC), Mr. Hassan Bello, made this known Thursday in Abuja during a meeting between the Council, Concessionaires for the Inland Dry Ports and the French Embassy. NSC ES, while highlighting the successes so far recorded by the Council stated that the federal government thought it necessary to bring shipping closer to the people by establishing ports in the hinterland. Hassan told the audien...
Olivia Rodrigo Completes Chart Double In Australia
According to ARIA, the last artist to have four or more singles in the Top Ten was Taylor Swift, who racked up five on the survey in August 2020. BTS enjoy a soft landing on the ARIA Chart with “Butter” (Big Hit Entertainment/Orchard), their multiple record-setting second English-language single. It’s new at No. 6. TikTok phenom Bella Poarch can now boast a Top 40 hit in Australia, as her debut single “Build a Bitch” starts at No. 36. The Asian-American influencer signed to Warner Records earlier this month. With Sour bowing at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, Rodrigo becomes the first artist to achieve the double since Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber managed it in April 2021 with Justice and “Peaches.” She’s the first female solo artist to do it since compatriot Taylor Swift, with evermo...
2022 Oscar Telecast Has Been Pushed Back: Here’s the New Date
The eligibility period for Academy Awards consideration will return to the standard Dec. 31 deadline: A feature film must have a qualifying release date between March 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2021. As a result, this coming year will have 10-month eligibility period, while this past year had a 14-month eligibility period. Because the pandemic is still impacting theater attendance, eligibility requirements for the 94th Academy Awards will be consistent with the addendums made for the 93rd Awards season. Those can be found here. Complete 94th Awards rules and specialty category submission deadlines will be announced in June. Following this year, the Academy intends to expand the qualifying requirements for the 95th Awards. The 94th Oscars will be held at to the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & H...
Motion Picture Academy Seeks to Slow Rapid Rate of Membership Growth
The move follows five consecutive years in which the Academy invited 600 or more new members to join its ranks each year. In a surprise move, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday (May 26) that it is seeking to slow the rate of growth of its new members. “To ensure the necessary infrastructure, staff resources and environment to support all Academy members, this year’s growth in membership will be limited to roughly half that of recent years,” the Academy said in a statement. “This modification will enable steady future growth and allow the Academy to continue serving its membership in a more personal manner.” Last year, the Academy invited 819 people to join its ranks — 45% of them women, 36% underrepresented ethnic/racial minorities, and 49% from outsi...
Brandi Carlile & National Independent Venue Association Win Clio Music Impact Awards
“Each cycle, we select individuals and organizations in the music community whose significant social impact inspires us to shine a spotlight on their work and dedicate a special award in their honor,” said Clio CEO Nicole Purcell in a release. “This year, we are privileged to be recognizing two powerful forces for good in the industry who have made a tangible difference in the lives of countless music lovers. I’m grateful for the work they’ve done and for the opportunity to celebrate these accomplishments together.” Clio Music, presented for the sixth year by Citi, will recognize Carlile and NIVA in addition to the 2020/2021 Clio Music Award winners during a virtual celebration at 2 p.m. ET on June 10 at Clios.com. Both Impact Awards will be presented d...
NetEase’s Cloud Music Streaming Service Files to Go Public in Hong Kong
The timing of the proposal comes at a significant juncture for NetEase, which is expecting its music streaming service to “undergo relatively rapid business expansion” moving forward. Earlier this month, NetEase signed a first-ever digital distribution deal with Sony Music, following a similar deal with Universal Music, expanding its catalog significantly at a time when Tencent, its biggest rival, is facing regulatory scrutiny in China over its market dominance and exclusive deals with artists and labels. Reports suggest that regulators could force TME to offload two of its music streaming services and pay a hefty fine. Tencent’s music services claimed 615 million active users in the first quarter of 2021 and 61 million paying users, according to its financial filings. The NetE...
Recording Academy Announces More Grammy Rule Changes Affecting Album of the Year, Dance/Electronic Music & More
Here’s a summary of approved rule changes which go into effect immediately: Album of the year: Expanding eligibility Moving forward, if an album is up for album of the year, all credited featured artists, songwriters of new material, producers, recording engineers, mixers and mastering engineers who worked on that album are automatically nominated. Previously, the rule stated that all of these pros had to be credited with 33 percent or more of playing time to be nominated. This is a retreat on the Academy’s part. Colbie Caillat received a Grammy for album of the year because she was featured on one track (“Breathe”) on Taylor Swift’s Fearless, the 2009 album of the year winner. The Grammys subsequently tightened up their rules to make Grammys a little harder to get. They now are going back...
Facebook report: U.S. a top target for foreign and domestic influence operations
The United States topped a list of the countries most frequently targeted by deceptive foreign influence operations using Facebook between 2017 and 2020, the social media company said in a new report released on Wednesday. It also came second on a list of countries targeted by domestic influence operations in that same time period. Facebook Inc said one of the top sources of coordinated inauthentic behavior networks targeting the United States in the year leading up to the 2020 presidential election was domestic campaigns originating in the United States itself, as well as foreign operations from Russia and Iran. The tallies were based on the number of “coordinated inauthentic behavior” networks removed by Facebook, a term it uses for a type of influence operations that relies on fake acco...
Mali’s coup leader seizes power again
Mali’s president and prime minister have been ousted by the officer who led last year’s coup and became vice-president of an interim government. Col Assimi Goïta says President Bah Ndaw and PM Moctar Ouane failed in their duties and were seeking to sabotage the country’s transition. They were arrested hours after a government reshuffle which saw two senior army officers replaced. Col Goïta says elections will still go ahead next year as planned. But he ignored pleas from the UN chief, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), the EU and the US that the president and prime minister be released without any preconditions. The two men have been held at a military camp outside the capital, Bamako, since they were arrested on Monday evening. A delegation from Eco...
How Does Mexican Singer-Songwriter Carla Morrison Stay Mindful?
Now, mental health has become a big priority in my life. When it comes to wellness, I feel that it’s a place you create to check in with yourself and have goals. Like, “OK, what’s going to make me happy? What’s going to really give me that space?” And to think every day what’s going to lead me to take care of myself — whether it be eating healthier, doing a hobby or going running. I have to have that wellness space every day in my life, but also in a healthy way, because I do feel like sometimes that’s even stressful, like to try and be healthy and wellness-oriented all the time. You can sometimes feel guilty for not making that time because life happens. A couple of months ago, I moved from Paris to L.A. In the meantime, making that hug...
D.C. Attorney General Accuses Amazon of Fixing Prices in New Antitrust Lawsuit
“We filed this antitrust lawsuit to put an end to Amazon’s illegal control of prices across the online retail market,” DC Attorney General Karl Racine said in a conference call with reporters. “We need a fair online marketplace that expands options available to (District of Columbia) residents and promotes competition, innovation and choice.” Racine said Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, controls 50% to 70% of online market sales. The suit seeks to end Amazon’s use of the allegedly illegal price agreements as well as unspecified damages and penalties. Amazon rejected the allegations, saying the relief Racine is seeking “would force Amazon to feature higher prices to customers, oddly going against core objectives of antitrust law.” “The DC attorney general has it exactly backward...
Doja Cat, John Legend Join Eco-Friendly Music NFT Marketplace OneOf
Most NFT marketplaces operate on the Ethereum blockchain, which runs on a “proof-of-work” model. In this model, computer “miners” race to validate transactions to be added to the blockchain, and earn cryptocurrency as a reward. Although the system is meant to discourage tampering with the blockchain, it sucks up an enormous amount of energy in the process. The exact amount is widely disputed and difficult to quantify, but Digiconomist estimates that the Ethereum network has nearly the same annual carbon footprint as the country of Jordan. By contrast, OneOf is built on the Tezos blockchain protocol, which uses a “proof-of-stake” model. Long hailed as a potential solution to these environmental problems, proof-of-stake means that miners lock up some ...
