business
Egyptian rights group head hopes release will help other prisoners
The head of a leading Egyptian human rights group who was held for two weeks on terrorism charges said Saturday he hoped the campaign to secure his release would help others still jailed on similar Allegations. Activists saw the detention last month of Gasser Abdel Razek, executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), and two of the group’s other staff, as the latest escalation of a broad crackdown on political dissent under President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. Egypt’s foreign ministry had said EIPR was operating illegally, an accusation the group denies. There has been no official statement from public prosecutors since Abdel Razek’s release, and officials could not be reached for comment. The arrests, which came after EIPR hosted a briefing on human rights for 13 s...
Sorry, ‘SNL’: Variety Talk & Sketch Series Will Now Compete in One Emmys Category
“Saturday Night Live” has won outstanding variety sketch series the last four years running, but now it will be up against talk shows too, like five-time winner “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.” The Television Academy announced its rule changes for the upcoming 73rd Emmy Awards competition on Friday (Dec. 4) — and fans of NBC’s Saturday Night Live may not like the first one. Separate awards for variety talk and variety sketch series have been recombined into one category: outstanding variety series. Saturday Night Live has won outstanding variety sketch series the last four years running. It was nominated the two years before that, but lost, in turn, to Inside Amy Schumer and Key & Peele. By contrast, between 1976 and 2014, when SNL had to compete with...
AU welcomes Nigeria ahead of AfCFTA kick-off
The African Union Commissioner for Trade and Industry, Albert Muchanga, said in Addis Ababa on Friday that instruments signifying Nigeria’s entry into the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will be received at the commission’s headquarters shortly ahead of next year’s kick-off of trading. Speaking during the AfCFTA Business Forum 2020 to discuss the status of preparations to launch the continental trading, Muchanga said the launch of trading will facilitate the growth of African enterprise and enhance the capacity of industries producing goods to a wider population. Nigeria, which signed the AfCFTA agreement in 2019, officially ratified the agreement on 12 November. The instruments of ratification are expected to be received at the AU on Saturday, 5 December, the deadline for the...
David Swartz Launches Singular Arts Group Artist Management Company in Berlin With Matt Lambert
Mykki Blanco, Patrick Wolf, Finn Ronsdorf & FaltyDL are the first four artists on the Germany-based company’s roster. David Swartz launched a Berlin-based full-service artist management company Friday (Dec. 4) called Singular Arts Group in partnership with Matt Lambert. Swartz spent the early part of his 20-year career in the business in the live music sector, from concert promoter to booking agent, before moving into artist management. He started Kosher Management in Los Angeles in 2009 and managed American and European acts mainly across the rock and electronic genres until 2016 when he moved to Germany. Lambert, who will serve as Singular Arts Group’s creative director, has more than 15 years of industry experience working as a filmmaker, photographer, artist and cr...
PRS for Music Proposed Livestreams Rate Scheme Draws Managers’ Ire
“For the sake of all artists, songwriters and the wider industry, it is crucial that this new format is allowed to grow and thrive,” the artists and managers say in their letter. “Charging artists up to four times the live rate strangles rather than nurtures this innovation.” Signing onto the letter were managers for such artists as Dua Lipa, Biffy Clyro, Liam Gallagher, Bicep, Fontaines D.C., Gorillaz, Yungblud, and Arlo Parks, as well as a group of songwriters. In a statement sent to Billboard, PRS for Music did not detail the proposed scheme for its Online Live Concert license, which it said was “still evolving.” The organization says the new scheme will allow the necessary rights to be licensed and says it welcomes “the many initiatives to move live concerts online.” The manager and ar...
Chance the Rapper Hit With $3M Lawsuit From Former Manager Pat Corcoran
Corcoran is suing for breach of contract, violation of the Illinois Sales Representative Act and unjust enrichment, among other counts. He is additionally asking the court to order an accounting of all amounts earned by the Bennetts beginning in Feb. 2013 — the date Corcoran says that Bennett agreed to pay him 15% commission on all touring, merch and album sales, among other income streams — as well as to enforce a sunset clause that will entitle him to future commissions for a three-year post-termination period ending Apr. 25, 2023. The complaint names as defendants Chance the Rapper, LLC as well as the rapper’s merchandise and touring companies Cool Pop Merch and CTR Touring. The 20-page suit (read in full here) narrates Corcoran’s years-long relationship with Bennett a...
Paris Jackson On How Radiohead and Mushrooms Inspired Her Debut
While making her debut solo album, Paris Jackson wasn’t concerned about flaunting her musical heritage. “It’s really just about the music itself,” says the 22-year-old singer-songwriter and daughter of Michael Jackson. “I’ve been writing for a really long time, and I wanted to get into the studio.” The end result is the recently released wilted, an ethereal concept record on “heartbreak, betrayal, grief and rebirth” that, says Jackson, “tells my journey.” She reveals who awoke her inner artist — and what she surrounded herself with in order to open up. 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,...
Radio Disney Shutting Down Amid Restructuring
The rise of streaming audio and the pandemic-fueled uncertainty about the future of live music events also contributed to the decision. The shutdown will not affect Radio Disney in Latin America, which is a separate operation. “The difficult decision to close these two radio networks coincided with Disney’s recently announced structural changes that call for Disney Branded Television to sharpen its focus on increasing production of kids’ and family content for Disney+ and Disney Channels,” said a statement announcing the news. “Division leaders also took into account the fast evolving media environment that provides more personalized music choices than ever to a generation of young consumers, and the ongoing public health crisis that continues to affect in-per...
Roddy Ricch Dominates Apple Music’s Year-End Charts
As the year’s top album on Apple Music, Ricch’s Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial additionally spawned three more tracks that earned placement on the service’s top songs of 2020 chart: “High Fashion”, “Start Wit Me” and “Bacc Seat.” Ricch was additionally featured on the fourth most-streamed song of 2020, DaBaby’s “ROCKSTAR.” The year’s second most-streamed song on Apple Music, “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd, had an even broader reach than “The Box” worldwide, charting in the top 5 on Apple Music’s Top 100 songs charts in 92 countries and reaching No. 1 in 62 of them. While “Blinding Lights” had fewer streams than “The Box,” it racked up the most listeners overall. One notable facet of Apple Music’s end-of-year charts this year is the inclusion of two new...
Ogun governor presents N339 billion 2021 budget proposal
Gov. Dapo Abiodun of Ogun, on Wednesday, presented a budget proposal of N339 billion for the 2021 fiscal year to the state House of Assembly, with N177 billion earmarked for capital expenditure. Newsmen report that the budget, christened “Budget of Recovery and Sustainability,” also has N162 billion proposed for recurrent expenditure. The governor said that an estimated N119 billion was projected as internally-generated revenue for the state, with statutory allocation expected to be N59 billion. He stated that capital receipt, which included internal and external loans as well as grants and aids, stood at N142 billion. The governor stated that personnel cost remained the largest single item of expenditure, adding as at Oct. 31, it accounted for 35.5 percent of the total government spending...
Spotify Shares Jump 16% to All-Time High
On a related note, information about podcasts could have reinforced some investors’ belief that non-music content can improve both growth and margins. Spotify’s run-down of most popular music and podcasts revealed The Joe Rogan Experience, exclusive to Spotify as of Tuesday, is its top podcast. Its popularity suggests the controversial podcast is going to be worth the $100 million Spotify is spending to license the show from Rogan. Owned and licensed podcasts give Spotify a chance to differentiate itself from its competitors. In the last two years, Spotify has purchased podcast producers The Ringer, Gimlet and Parcast and has landed exclusives with Michele Obama and Kim Kardashian West, among many others. It has also launched proprietary, music-focused franchises such as Sound Stories: Wom...
Randall Poster’s Music Supervision Firm Search Party Acquired By Premier
Poster and Deutsch, who previously founded Downtown Music, have been friends since elementary school and attended Brown University together. Earlier this year, Deutsch approached Poster with the idea for the merger. “Can you imagine how much fun it is to all of a sudden have this exciting new opportunity with someone you’ve known since you were 12 years old?” said Poster in a statement. “We have always collaborated with the most interesting and important artists, songwriters and producers to create inspiring work. Josh has always held himself to the highest standards in the industry. It makes me feel great how excited he is to embrace not only me but the team I’ve cultivated and the work that we’ve done. In these transformative times, I can’t say enough about that support, friendship and f...
