business
Billboard Parent P-MRC Strikes Deal to Invest In SXSW
South by Southwest has struck a deal with P-MRC, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and MRC that includes publishing brands such as Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, that will make P-MRC a long-term partner and stakeholder in the festival, the companies announced in a joint release Sunday night (April 18). South by Southwest has struck a deal with P-MRC, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and MRC that includes publishing brands such as The Hollywood Reporter, that will make P-MRC a long-term partner and stakeholder in the festival, the companies announced in a joint release Sunday night. P-MRC — whose holdings also include Rolling Stone, Variety and Vibe — will bring “media expertise and new avenues for discovery” to...
Lil Nas X’s ‘Montero’ Chasing Fourth Week at No. 1 In U.K.
While Lil Nas X appears to have the upper hand in the chart battle, there’s plenty of action down below. Riton x Nightcrawlers’ club track “Friday” featuring Mufasa & Hypeman is the most downloaded song of the weekend, and is on track for a new high. In its tenth week in the Top 10, “Friday” lifts 6-2, two places above its peak. At this early stage, the highest climber is Olivia Rodrigo’s “Déjà Vu,” up 26-12. The followup to “Drivers License,” it’s the second single from the U.S. teen’s debut studio album Sour, due out May 21. Meanwhile, singles from Tom Grennan, Masked Wolf, Mimi Webb, Ava Max and Silk Sonic are on the rise, based on the OCC’s chart blast. The Official U.K. Singles Chart is published late Friday local time. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates...
Luke Bryan, Maren Morris & More Record-Setters at 2021 ACM Awards
Stapleton’s Starting Over won album of the year. Stapleton previously won in the category with Traveller and From A Room: Volume 1. Stapleton and Dave Cobb co-produced all three albums. Stapleton is one of the top five winners in ACM history in this category. Miranda Lambert has won it five times. Alabama, George Strait and Alan Jackson have also won it three times. “I Hope You’re Happy Now” by Pearce and Brice became the fourth male/female duet to win single of the year. The first three were “Islands in the Stream” by Kenny Rogers with Dolly Parton” (1983), “It’s Your Love” by Tim McGraw with Faith Hill” (1997), and “Don’t You Wanna Stay” by Jason Aldean with Kelly Clarkson (2011). This is Brice’s second ACM win for single of the year. He took the award six years ago for “I Don’t Dance.” ...
Chanchangi braces up to resume flight operations
Nine years after ceasing operations, Chanchangi Airlines Nigeria Limited is set to return to the country’s airspace. With its head office in the Chanchangi Office Complex in Kaduna, Nigeria, the airline had operated scheduled domestic passenger services. The Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt Musa Nuhu, who disclosed the plan Friday said the Kaduna based airline is preparing a comeback. He gave the hint while explaining the high demand for air travels in the country, saying that “Chanchangi wants to come back and they want to use ATR. They are planning to come back. The demand is there.” Capt Nuhu equally observed a new trend in airline operations where operators are now shifting to smaller aircraft against the bigger ones. The DG said: “You mentioned th...
H.E.R., Leslie Odom Jr. & More to Perform Oscar-Nominated Songs on Pre-Show, Not the Main Telecast
The Oscars have struggled with how to include the five nominated songs without having a four-hour show. The producers of the 93rd annual Academy Awards had good news and bad news for the singers who are performing this year’s Oscar nominees for best original song. The good news: All five nominees will be performed in their entirety. The bad news: They’ll be featured on a 90-minute pre-show, Oscars: Into the Spotlight, which is billed as “the lead-in” to the Oscars. Hosted by actors Ariana DeBose (Hamilton) and Lil Rel Howery (Bad Trip), the pre-show will air Sunday, April 25, at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT. The main Oscar telecast will begin at 8 p.m.. ET/5 p.m. PT. The Oscars have struggled with how to include the five nominated songs without having a four-hour show. In a few years, none of...
UTA First Major Agency to Set Optional Return to Office Date
Returning to the office is completely optional for employees. Zimmer clearly states that any staffer who is not yet prepared to return to the office, even if they’re vaccinated, will not have to do so. The agency is requiring those who do come back to have been fully vaccinated, though. Read Zimmer’s note to employees here: With vaccinations rapidly increasing across the nation and California announcing plans to fully reopen by mid-June, I’m pleased to say a return to our UTA offices is near. More details will follow in the coming weeks, but at this point we are planning for a reopening of our Nashville offices on June 1 and our Los Angeles office on June 15. We plan for our offices in London to open on August 31 and New York on September 7. A cross-company team has been consul...
Taylor Swift Smashes Records In Australia as ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’ Debuts at No. 1
According to ARIA, the 17 weeks that separate evermore first summiting and the debut of Fearless (Taylor’s Version) sets the record for the shortest span between different albums to reach the top, beating Swift’s own mark of 20 weeks between her last two LPs. Three tracks from it impact the singles chart this week, led by “Mr. Perfectly Fine (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)”, new at No. 19. Swift’s tally of eight No. 1 albums places her second on the all-time leaderboard for female solo artists, behind only Madonna (with 11). She also sits one release behind Eminem (9) for the most consecutive No. 1s. On the latest ARIA Albums Chart, Justin Bieber’s Justice (Def Jam/Universal) dips 1-2, while veteran Australian artist Richard Clapton starts at No. 3 with Music Is Love (1966-1970) ...
The Deals: Def Jam Strikes JV With Poo Bear; Deadmau5 Cosigns New Gaming Startup
“I’m extremely grateful for Bearthday Music to have partnered with Def Jam and Universal,” added Poo Bear. “This is truly a dream manifesting to have the support of Def Jam, and their belief not only in me but in the artists I believe in. I’m looking forward to what’s to come from this new promising venture. Thank you to Lucian Grange, Jeff Harleston and Naim McNair for this opportunity. HBD!!!!” In addition to the aforementioned artists, Poo Bear has worked with J Balvin, DJ Khaled, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Billie Eilish and Ed Sheeran, among many others. He boasts nearly 300 songwriting and production credits with sales of over 350 million records worldwide. Joel Zimmerman (deadmau5) and Richie Hawtin (Plastikman) along with music industry visionaries Ben Turner, Dean Wilson and Ind...
Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei’s 2020 Pay Rises to $47.1 Million
The bulk of his overall compensation last year continued to come from option awards, stock awards and a non-equity incentive plan. Maffei’s 2019 compensation had jumped thanks to a new employment contract that boosted his option awards from $8.8 million to $27.8 million. His option awards dipped to $24.98 million in 2020. Liberty Media in its regulatory filing also disclosed the annual pay for chairman Malone, which amounted to $1.09 million. He had made $1.4 million in 2019, $1.1 million in 2018, $797,082 in 2017 and $747,156 in 2016. Liberty recently reported 2020 revenue of $9.4 billion, down from $10.3 billion, and a loss of $1.4 billion, compared with 2019 earnings of $106 million. Maffei recently suggested that streaming giant Amazon would drive an accelerated push by Big Tech ...
Joy McKean, Australia’s ‘Queen of Country,’ to Receive Ted Albert Award at 2021 APRAs
Now aged 91, McKean composed “The Biggest Disappointment, “Ringer from the Top End,” “Walk a Country Mile” and “Indian Pacific,” and did so while touring regional and remote Australia at a time when the perceived role of women was that of home maker. McKean will be in the room for the presentation during the 2021 APRA Awards, set to take place April 28 in Sydney. Her contribution to Australian country music “as a pioneering songwriter, bush balladeer, touring performer and artist manager is unparalleled,” reads a statement from APRA. The Ted Albert honor “was most unexpected,” she admits in a statement, “and I thank those who must have nominated me for such consideration by APRA.” It’s not the first time McKean been honored for her art and advocacy. In 1991, McKean was awarded th...
Minister: Nigerian government worried about rising unemployment rate
Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has said the federal government is worried over the rising unemployment rate in the country. Speaking at the 2nd Shakeholders’ Meeting on Expatriate Quota Administration organized by the Citizenship and Business Department of the Ministry of Interior, the Minister said: “Anyone that is not worried about the unemployment rate in the country is not a patriot.” He lamented that the unemployment rate of 33 per cent released by the National Bureau of Statistics was indeed worrisome and a wake up call that something urgently needed to be done to keep Nigerians employed and drastically reduce the unemployment rate. The Minister, who called on all stakeholders at the meeting to ensure quality inputs were brought to the table that will lead to the produ...
Reservoir Leading Music Publishing Funds Onto the US Stock Market
Ross CH Acquisition II is bringing $115 million to Reservoir’s public offering as part of the deal. Some institutional investors including Caledonia have been lined up as anchor shareholders, which will bring in $150 million in gross proceeds. In the end, after investment banking, legal fees and other expenses, Reservoir will be left with $246 million in gross proceeds from the transaction. The company’s current shareholders, including the Khosrowshahi family, will roll over all their Reservoir equity into the new company, giving it an enterprise value of $788 million. That means that the Reservoir shareholders will likely have a lock-up period — maybe 180 days — before they can cash in any of their shares. In the meantime, the company has an implied pro-forma equity value of $...
