business
NNPC selects 26 firms to lift Nigeria’s crude oil
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has picked 26 foreign and local companies as well as 12 countries to lift the country’s crude oil for the next two years. The crude term contracts, expected to run from 2021 through 2023, would see the firms and the selected nations, which would operate on a Government-to-Government (G2G) basis to purchase the commodity from the national oil company. The deal is coming less than a week after the corporation chose 16 oil and gas consortia for its new crude-for-fuel swap contracts for one year starting in August. The contracts, known as Direct Sale, Direct Purchase (DSDP) are high-stakes agreements used to supply nearly all of Nigeria’s petrol needs as well as cover some of its diesel and jet fuel consumption. However, in the fresh crude oil...
Firm cautions Nigerian government over sale of national assets
Agusto Consulting has cautioned the federal government over its plan to relinquish national assets to private hands, saying, the risk involved is unquantifiable. Agusto Consulting, in a report titled “Rethinking Nigeria’s Models for Infrastructure Development,” noted that, the benefits of relinquishing control to the private sector are glaring, but remain difficult to implement. Noting that the federal government’s handing off certain critical assets of the country that have been dormant over the years will positively impact on the country’s budgetary allocation, but added that this decision has caveats and risks associated with operating models that involve private sector participation regardless of the levels of participation. “First is the high level of corruption in the country and the...
Universal Music’s Spotify Stock Could Be Worth $2B
If it still holds the shares, their current value is $1.45 billion — which would yield a profit of nearly $1.4 billion if sold at Friday’s share price. UMG and the other major labels, Sony Music and Warner Music Group, each took equity as part of their licensing deals that allowed Spotify to launch in the U.S. in 2011. As of Dec. 31, UMG maintained a larger equity stake in Spotify than any of its competitors. Sony Music sold half its 5.707% stake for $768 million following Spotify’s IPO in April 2018, leaving it 5.082 million shares a 2.85% stake at the time — a percentage that would have been diluted since then. (Based on Warner Music, meanwhile, confirmed in August 2018 that it sold its full 4% stake for $504 million. In March 2018 UMG committed to givin...
Inside Track: UMG’s Executive Pay; Clive Davis Interviews Joni Mitchell
When post-employee benefits and share-based payouts are added, that total jumps to $132 million — almost double the $62.2 million paid to the executive team in 2018. According to the UMG website, the executive team consists of UMG chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge; executive vp Michele Anthony; chairman/CEO of Central Europe and Deutsche Grammophon, Frank Briegmann; executive vp and general counsel Jeffrey Harleston; executive vp and chief people and inclusion officer Eric Hutcherson; United Kingdom and Ireland chairman/CEO David Joseph; executive vp marketing Andrew Kronfeld; executive vp/CFO Boyd Muir; executive vp digital strategy Michael Nash; executive vp/chief administrative officer Will Tanous; and Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) chairman/CEO Jody Gerson. The financial data ...
Russ Millions and Tion Wayne Bag Historic Chart Title In Australia With ‘Body’
Meanwhile, U.S. rapper J. Cole earns a Top 20 debut with “i n t e r l u d e” (Interscope/Universal), lifted from his sixth album, The Off-Season. It’s new at No. 20 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and is Cole’s first appearance on the survey since “Middle Child” peaked at No. 15 in February 2019. Also new to the chart this week is Pink’s “All I Know So Far” (RCA/Sony), which drops in at No. 25 for the U.S. pop star’s second chart entry for 2021, following “Cover Me In Sunshine” (No. 6 in March). “All I Know So Far” is the title track from her upcoming live documentary, due out May 21 on Amazon Prime. U.S. rapper Trippie Redd bags his first entry on the ARIA Chart with “Miss The Rage” (Universal), new at No. 31; while returning British rock outfit Coldplay make their first appearance...
How Does Chopra Global’s Devi Brown Stay Mindful?
My life first took me into entertainment. I started working in radio and doing some TV, and kind of on the L.A. music scene when I was 18. But the deeper desire there was always the storytelling and it was always my curiosity. I don’t consider myself in the music industry now. I actually don’t even listen to anything with the exception of Soulection Radio, which I think is one of God’s greatest gifts. Back then, I had a lot of access to celebrity but the root of my work was always in deep curiosity about people’s journeys. I interviewed Kendrick [Lamar] maybe like a decade ago, and in that interview I asked him about depression and mental health – that was the word that we were using. I was getting responses from listeners about how much that helped them. I also rem...
Nigerian farmers raise alarm as insecurity threatens food availability
Some concerned parties in the agriculture sector have appealed to the federal government to intensify efforts in curbing banditry, kidnapping and terrorism, as these can threaten food security. The parties made the appeal in separate interviews with newsmen on Friday in Abuja. They noted that the recent increase in kidnapping and banditry had made a lot of farmers run from their farmlands in search of safe hideouts. The Executive Secretary, National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), Paul Ikonne, said there was a need to urgently address the insecurity challenges in the country in order to overcome the challenge of food shortage. Ikonne noted that dialogue remained critical in addressing issues of insecurity and herders, adding that a peaceful dialogue between farmers and her...
Influence Media Buys Stake in Julia Michaels’ Song Catalog
Also included are Michaels’ publishing stakes in several of her songs as a solo artist, including “Issues,” “I Miss You” (with Clean Bandit), “Carry Me” (with Kygo) and “Friends” (with Justin Bieber and BloodPop). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Michaels acquisition is the second from Influence Media’s music fund with the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (MERS of Michigan), which boasts $100 million in initial capital to invest in the recording and publishing rights of commercially proven songs. Its first joint acquisition, of select copyrights from songwriter Ali Tamposi’s catalog, was announced in April. “Like Carole King, Sia and Bruno Mars before her, Julia Michaels belongs in the pantheon of great songwriters who can write classics for themselves as well as o...
Kara DioGuardi’s New Singing Competition Puts Mental Health in Focus
“Some of the greatest songs out there were born of our artists’ struggles,” DioGuardi tells Billboard. “So as an industry, I think it’s really important that we look forward [to] helping our artists with their mental health and their wellness — that that becomes something that is on the forefront of all of these record companies’ minds when they’re signing talent today.” Sing It Forward’s eight semi-finalists (Jay Alan, Conor, Sydney Sherwood, Cameron Lane, Alexander Hensley, Jessa Pontier, Govan and Janie) were chosen from around 1,000 entrants who posted an original or cover song to YouTube, TikTok or Instagram with the hashtag #SingItForwardChallenge while explaining why the song was important to them. The winner will receive a raft of prizes, including a s...
Vivendi Sets Date for Universal Music Group Spinoff
Shares of Universal Music Group will begin trading on the Amsterdam Euronext market “before or by” Sept. 27, parent company Vivendi revealed on Wednesday (May 12). Vivendi’s proposal for the UMG share distribution will be put to a vote at the company’s shareholders’ meeting on June 22. Vivendi’s largest institutional shareholders “have been calling for the split or distribution” of UMG to better reflect the fast-appreciating value of its music division, according to Wednesday’s report. Vivendi’s own valuation suggests UMG is being grossly undervalued: on Wednesday, Vivendi’s market value on Wednesday was 32.4 billion euros ($39.11 billion), slightly below Vivendi’s estimate of 33 billion euros ($39.84 billion) for UMG — even though UMG accounted for 45.8% of Vivendi’s first-quarter revenue...
Event & Arena Marketing Conference Sets Finalists for First Impact Award
Director of marketing for KLOS-FM Wendy Ellis was nominated for the Impact Award for the creation of meal distribution service California Love Drop. Ellis teamed up with Wahoo’s Fish Tacos co-founder Wing Lam and Blue-C co-founder Eric Morley to deliver nearly 20,000 meals at 61 different locations since April 2020. Another Macon Centreplex nominee, Peyton Jeter stood out among the Impact Award submissions for her pivotal role in the creation of the venue’s Racial Reform and Inclusion Committee. The hard work of the Committee became a standard that Spectra Venue Management rolled out to the entire Management portfolio and led Peyton to be a Regional Champion where other venues can use her as a resource to get their venue’s committee up and ...
Understanding the strength of small businesses
The number of small businesses keeps growing in the formal and informal sectors of the Nigerian economy, due to the role of small businesses as the live-wire of any economy and the backbone of major developed economies the world over. Though Nigeria rely majorly on oil and revenues derived from it, from context observation the economy is largely supported by small businesses covering almost all spheres of activities within the country, ranging from Nano, kiosk, and Micro businesses most importantly. A visible reference usually includes the vulcanizers, corner shop owners, single retail marketers, repairers, painters, business center operators, restaurants, market women, and men in the various open markets, among others. and the formal operations such as the law firms, accounting firms, con...