business
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: ‘Everybody Realizes We’re at a Critical Point for Retail’
We talked last time about how December is a really important month for you. How has business been the last couple of weeks? It’s been good. Madison has a very strong ‘buy local’ spirit, and we’re really feeling that love this year. In addition, so many customers, either on the phone or in person, are asking how we’re doing with genuine concern. I think everybody realizes that we’re at a critical point for retail and restaurants and local establishments, and everybody is hoping that their favorites will stay. That’s really heartening to hear, especially now with the pandemic, when it’s a lot more convenient and, I guess, safer for people to buy online or on Amazon. We definitely feel that in our business. I hesitate who I say this to, but the ...
LadBaby Leads Mariah Carey In Race to U.K. Christmas No. 1
With the race to the U.K.’s Christmas No. 1 entering the final straight, LadBaby will be hard to beat. Ladbaby, featuring YouTuber Mark Hoyle, his wife Roxanne and their two kids, take a strong lead with “Don’t Stop Me Eatin’,” according to the Official Charts Company, with Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” the closest competition. LadBaby have elite form. The novelty act took out the Christmas No. 1 in 2018 and 2019, with money raised from those singles benefiting food bank charity The Trussell Trust. 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 h...
Music Biz Applauds Pandemic Aid Package: ‘These Relief Provisions Will Save Lives and Livelihoods’
“We also welcome the inclusion of consensus-driven intellectual property reforms in the omnibus bill. The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (CASE) Act and Protect Lawful Streaming Act (PLSA) will strengthen creators’ ability to protect their works against infringement online, and promote a safer, fairer digital environment, which are particularly needed as the arts struggle to survive the pandemic. We look forward to continuing our work to provide greater relief for the American creative community.” Chief among the music and entertainment-focused measures included in the bill is the Save Our Stages Act, which will provide $15 billion in relief funding for “live venues, independent movie theaters and cultural institutions” that have been devastated by coronavirus-related clo...
Paul McCartney’s ‘III’ On Track For U.K. Christmas No. 1
Recorded in isolation earlier this year, McCartney performed every instrument on the new release. The master songwriter is already the most successful albums act in U.K. recorded music history, with 22 No. 1s across his career with the Beatles, Wings, and solo efforts. His most recent solo collection, 2018’s Egypt Station, went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 but peaked at No. 3 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s worn the Christmas chart crown. Twenty years ago, The Beatles hits collection 1 ruled the 2000 Christmas chart, and the Liverpool legends nabbed six holiday chart leaders in the 1960s. Further down the midweek chart is Eminem’s surprise release Music To Be Murdered By – B Side (Interscope), new at No. 6, while Britpop era band Shed Seven return to ...
Tones And I’s ‘Dance Monkey’ Shimmies to 2 Billion Plays on Spotify
Indeed, just two tracks have accumulated more streams on the platform, Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” (at 2.7 billion) and Post Malone’s “Rockstar” featuring 21 Savage (2.079 billion), both of which were released in 2017. Ever since Tones unleashed “Dance Monkey” in May 2019, she’s been smashing records left and right. The single went on the rule the U.K. chart for 11 weeks, a record for a solo female artist, and led the ARIA Singles Chart for 24 non-consecutive weeks, a streak unchallenged by any other artist. “Dance Monkey” also went top 5 in the U.S., she became the inaugural leader on Billboard’s Alternative Songwriters list and Tones went to No. 1 on the Hot 100 Songwriters’ Chart. All told, it reached No. 1 in more than 30 countries and it’s the most “Shazamed̶...
The COVID-19 Stimulus Bill Would Make Illegal Streaming a Felony
Congress looks to provide relief to U.S. citizens and small businesses, but the omnibus bill includes some legislative priorities for the entertainment industry as well. Providing relief via direct assistance and loans to struggling individuals and businesses hit hard by COVID-19 has been a priority for federal lawmakers this past month. But a gigantic spending bill has also become the opportunity to smuggle in some other line items, including those of special interest to the entertainment community. Perhaps most surprising, according to the text of the bill being circulated, illegal streaming for commercial profit could become a felony. It’s been less than two weeks since Sen. Thom Tillis released his proposal to increase the penalties for those who would dare stream unlicensed work...
Music’ Big Deal Maker: David Dunn of Shot Tower Capital on Shepherding Sales in a Hot Market
Dunn, who graduated from Bucknell University with a master’s in economics and has a law degree from American University, started his career as an economist with the U.S. government and then became a mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer before going into banking — and forging relationships with music business players like Jackson estate executor John Branca and former Sony/ATV chairman/CEO Martin Bandier, or Big Deal’s founder and president Kenny MacPherson and Pulse’s co-CEO Scott Cutler, whose firms he helped sell to Hipgnosis and (a stake in) to Concord, respectively. Before he began his investment banking career, while still working as an economist while going to law school at night, he once made money on the side as a bartender, including at one of Bill Clinton’s 1993 inaugural ...
Taylor Swift Completes Chart Double In Australia With ‘Evermore,’ ‘Willow’
By landing two No. 1 albums in just 19 weeks, Swift sets a new ARIA Charts record for the shortest space between successive No. 1 albums, easily beating the 25 weeks separating Ariana Grande’s Sweetener (No. 1 in August 2018) and Thank U, Next (No. 1 in February 2019). With Christmas just around the corner, Delta Goodrem’s Only Santa Knows jingles up the albums chart 12-2, for a new chart peak. Its climb follows the Dec. 12 airing of the Delta At Christmas special on the free-to-air Nine TV network. Twenty years after the release of their cut ‘n’ paste masterpiece Since I Left You, Australian electronic act Avalanches crash into the albums chart at No. 4 with We Will Always Love You, their third album. We Will Always Love You is the followup to Wildflower, which ruled the AR...
LadBaby On Track For U.K. Christmas No. 1 Threepeat
The race is underway for the U.K.’s coveted Christmas No. 1, and there’s a holidays theme spread across the main contenders. The reigning champ LadBaby is off to the best possible start with “Don’t Stop Me Eatin’,” which blasts off with 80,000 chart sales after just 48 hours and is poised for one of the biggest opening weeks of 2020. “Don’t Stop Me Eatin’” is No. 1 on the Official Chart: First Look, which ranks tracks based on the weekend’s sales and streaming activity, ahead of Jess Glynne’s cover of Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas,” rocketing 9-2. 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 chatt...
Universal Music Group, Concord Extend Global Distribution Deal
“UMG and Concord have built a wonderful relationship over the past 15 years,” comments Concord CEO Scott Pascucci in a statement. “As we have grown, they have provided the support that we needed to expand the worldwide success of our frontline labels, the KIDZ BOP franchise, Craft Recordings, and the rest of our catalog. We are very pleased to be renewing this partnership with Universal.” Adds Lucian Grainge, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group: “Our partnership with Concord is built on a foundation of shared values. We both put artists and creativity at the center of everything we do.” Grainge continues, “I couldn’t be happier to extend our partnership and l look forward to even more success working with Scott, Tom, Sig and the entire Concord team.” The independent Concord music gro...
Indie Venues Get $15B in New COVID Relief Bill
After months of lobbying and bipartisan support, the Save Our Stages Act will offer millions of dollars in support funding. Federal funding to help independent venues hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic has been included in a $900 billion bipartisan aid package following days of negotiations between leaders of both the Democratic and Republican parties in Congress. While the specifics of the bill have not yet been announced, the aid package does include “$15 billion in dedicated funding for live venues, independent movie theaters, and cultural institutions,” according to an email from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), as well as a $300 per week unemployment insurance enhancement for the millions of Americans out of work during the pandemic, including nearly 100,000 live ...
APC promises conducive environment for Kankara abducted boys
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has rendered an unreserved apology to the students abducted from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, promising that President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling party will do all it takes to ensure that they continue to study in a safe environment. The ruling party in a statement signed by the National Chairman, Mai Mala Buni, noted that it received with joy and glad heart the release and return of the students who were abducted by terrorists. The party further noted that the news was not just elating, but it was gladdening and relieving. “We want to congratulate the parents of the children and also apologize on behalf of our party that one of our biggest promises was security and although we are doing our utmost best, such incidenc...
