business
Sheikh Gumi: Fulani herdsmen were pushed into criminality
Islamic Cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has maintained his position that some Fulani herdsmen were forced into criminality because they were victims of cattle rustling. Sheikh Gumi restated his position during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday. Sheikh Gumi said: “When I listened to them, I found out that it is a simple case of criminality which turned into banditry, which turned into ethnic war, and some genocide too behind the scene; people don’t know.” The cleric said that while “there is no excuse for any crime; nothing can justify crime, and they are committing crime,” the bandits were forced into criminality. “I think it is a population that is pushed by circumstances into criminality,” he said. “And this is what we should look, let’s remove the pressure, let’s...
Facebook to Lift Its Australian News Ban
Facebook blocked Australian users from accessing and sharing news last week after the House of Representatives passed the draft law late Wednesday. Initially, the Facebook news blockade cut access — at least temporarily — to government pandemic, public health and emergency services, sparking public outrage. The Senate will debate amended legislation on Tuesday. Frydenberg described the agreed upon amendments as “clarifications” of the government’s intent. He said his negotiations with Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg were “difficult.” “There is no doubt that Australia has been a proxy battle for the world,” Frydenberg said. “Facebook and Google have not hidden the fact that they know that the eyes of the world are on Australia and that is why they have sought to get a code here tha...
Mogwai, Olivia Rodrigo Lead U.K.’s Midweek Charts
Mogwai are leading a tight race for the U.K. chart crown. At the halfway stage in the chart week, the Scottish instrumental rock veterans hold the edge with As The Love Continues (Rock Action), their tenth studio album. As The Love Continues rules the Official Chart Update, though just 1,800 chart sales currently separate a Top 3 that also features Foo Fighters’ Medicine At Midnight (up 3-2 via Columbia) and British grime MC Ghetts’ Conflict of Interest (new at No. 3 via Warner Records). You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair...
Sony Music Publishing Signs The Kid Laroi to Global Deal
Born Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard, the Kamilaroi musician made history in his homeland earlier this month when his mixtape F*ck Love (Savage) climbed to No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart. As a result, he’s now the youngest Australian solo artist to nab top spot on the survey, aged just 17 years, 5 months and 22 days. F*ck Love bowed at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 last year, and he scored three ARIA Award nominations, for best male artist, breakthrough artist, and best hip-hop release. More recently, the mixtape hit No. 3 on the Billboard chart. In Australia, the set hasn’t left the ARIA Top 40 since the original version was released last July, and it’s amassed more than 1 billion global streams. Were it not for the domination of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License,”...
Edo government warns worship, events centres against violating coronavirus protocols
The Edo State Government has warned owners of event centres, eateries, restaurants, pubs, shopping malls and other places hosting social events in the state against violating the state’s COVID-19 prevention protocols. In a statement signed on Saturday by the Secretary to the State Government, Osarodion Ogie, the government said event centres or business premises that violate regulations on social gatherings would be shut and owners or operators would be prosecuted at designated mobile courts. Ogie noted that the state COVID-19 compliance team had been mandated to ensure strict enforcement of the directives at the weekend, starting from Friday, February 19, 2021, with instructions to ensure full compliance with the protocols. “The Edo State Government hereby warns all event centres, eaterie...
Shawn Gee Partners With Twitch to Launch BlackStream Live
The goal of BlackStream is to “unite some of the most influential, impactful, and inspiring voices of today to craft provocative and entertaining content as projected through the lens of the modern Black experience, yet meaningful to multiple generations,” a statement announcing BlackStream reads. Through strategic alliances with tastemakers and programmers, Twitch has made significant investments in the music space. In August, the Amazon-owned company announced a partnership with the Rolling Loud festival for live hip-hop events on the platform and a month later Twitch announced a partnership with Relix magazine and its owner Peter Shapiro from (who also owns Brooklyn Bowl, Capitol Theatre and Lock’N fest) to launch a channel focused on jam bands. Twitch also has streami...
This New Video Streaming Service Wants to Be Your Go-To for Filmed Music Content
Spinello and his founding team, which also includes John McDermott and Janie Hendrix of Experience Hendrix, Yoko Ono and the John Lennon estate and entertainment lawyer Jonas Herbsman, are now looking to shake up the old paradigm with an all-access subscription model that uses the power and reach of the Amazon distribution network to bring legacy video content in music — much of it rare and some it never before seen — to a larger audience than ever before. Launching today in the U.S. and slated to roll out to the rest of the world over the next year, Coda Collection has buy-in from most of the major players in music: Content partners at launch include all three major labels (Sony Music is an equity partner in the new venture), Rhino Entertainment, Concord Music, Mercury Studios...
Music Victoria Appoints Simone Schinkel as CEO
Additionally, she holds a Master of Arts and Cultural Management, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in technical production, is an alumni of the Australia Council’s Emerging Leaders Development Program and co-convenor of the Arts Industry Council of Victoria. Schinkel is based in Melbourne, which has a reputation as a world-class music city and is arguably the live heartbeat of Australia. That was pre-COVID. Melbourne has endured several setbacks during the pandemic and has only just emerged from a snap five-day lockdown, a so-called circuit-breaker intended to halt community transmissions of new, highly contagious variants of the coronavirus. “In Simone we have found the person to lead our organization and sector through its next critical stage,” comments Sally Howland, chair of Music Victoria. “CO...
Facebook Blocks News Viewing, Sharing In Australia
“It has left us facing a stark choice: attempt to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship, or stop allowing news content on our services in Australia. With a heavy heart, we are choosing the latter,” Easton added. The company’s decision to take the nuclear option and block news access and sharing has already led to a storm of criticism from the emergency services in Australia who rely on the social media platform to relay vital information on wildfires, floods, extreme weather and COVID-19 among other local interest and public safety issues. The Australian government slammed Facebook for what is a landmark local ban on viewing and sharing news. “Facebook was wrong. Facebook’s actions were unnecessary, they were heavy-handed and they w...
Country Radio Was Already Adapting to Streaming. Then Came COVID-19
Indeed, it’s likely that most businesses — and maybe even CRS — will continue to use the internet for at least some conferences after offices reopen. Panelists across the summit’s spectrum referenced numerous ways in which the industry should anticipate post-pandemic change. Artists will continue to sign new recording deals after establishing audiences through online platforms, as did Andrew Jannakos, who contributed to a panel focused specifically on TikTok. In fact, songwriters are likely to receive publishing deals in greater numbers through the platform — and it’s already happening, said TikTok head of music partnerships and content operations Corey Sheridan on the same panel. Country radio will see some bounce back, though maybe not to its pre-pandemic listening leve...
WME’s Brett Murrihy Explores the State of Touring In Asia Pacific, ‘Electrifying’ India & More
In 2015, William Morris Endeavour acquired Artist Voice in a deal that saw Murrihy join the powerhouse U.S.-based talent and media agency, and take on duties for expanding and managing its presence in the music space throughout the region. Today, its clients include Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Nine Inch Nails and chart-leading newcomers Olivia Rodrigo, 24kGoldn and The Kid Laroi. To date, WME is the only global agency representing the Asia Pacific market. The pandemic has called a halt to pan-Asian touring, for the time being. Murrihy, however, anticipates the region’s touring circuit will open-up once vaccinations roll out, with Australia and New Zealand positioned to emerge earlier than its neighbors. Billboard caught up with Murrihy for a glimpse at the Pan...
It’s a Growth Story: What’s Behind UMG’s Accelerated IPO Plans?
Vivendi could earn about 9 billion euros ($10.9 billion) from the IPO, if it maintains majority ownership by unloading just just under 30% of UMG at the same 30 billion euros ($36.3 billion) valuation used last year when it sold a 20% stake to a consortium led by Chinese tech giant Tencent Corp. At that head-turning 36-times EBTIDA valuation, a multiple often seen in fast-growing tech companies, Tencent “made people take a step back and look at the valuations of music companies,” says Michael Poster, the head of Michelman & Robinson’s corporate and securities department. That’s not an unreasonable valuation: a rapidly-growing streaming market, believed by Goldman Sachs to reach 1.15 billion subscribers...
