business
H.E.R. & Chris Brown Lead 2020 Soul Train Awards Nominations: Here’s the Complete List
The show will simulcast on BET, BET Her, VH1 and MTV2 at 8 p.m. ET. A one-hour pre-show will air at 7 p.m. ET. The main show will be followed by the broadcast television debut of DJ Cassidy’s virtual series Pass the Mic. Connie Orlando, BET’s EVP specials, music programming & music strategy, will executive produce the show, along with Jesse Collins, CEO of Jesse Collins Entertainment, and that company’s Jeannae Rouzan-Clay and Dionne Harmon. The show will air on BET Africa on Nov. 29, BET France on Dec. 1, BET UK on Dec. 2 and BET South Korea on Dec. 2. Here’s the complete list of nominations: Song of the year:Beyoncé – “Black Parade”Chloe X Halle – “Do It”Chris Brown & Young Thug – “Go Crazy”H.E.R. Feat. YG – “Slide”Summer Walker & Usher – “Come Thru”Usher Feat. Ella Mai – “Do...
Tencent Music Entertainment Grew Subscribers 10% to 4.6M In Third Quarter
Tencent Music’s music apps fared relatively well, with paying users growing 7%, 10.3% and 9.8% in the first, second and third quarters. Revenue didn’t keep the pace as third quarter paying users were just 0.3% over the final 2019 count. Music subscribers grew by 4.6 million to 51.7 million, up 46% year-over-year and up 9.8% from the second quarter. In unit terms, subscriber growth improved on the 2.8 million in the first quarter and 4.4 million in the second quarter. Music monthly active users (MAU) fell 2.3% to 646 million, down from 661 million in the prior-year period Monthly music ARPU (average revenue per user) grew 5.6% to 9.4 yuan ($1.42) Signs of the COVID-19 pandemic are visible on Tencent Music’s metrics. In the first quarter, as much of China was under lockdown orders, Tencent M...
Britney Spears ‘Will Not Perform Again’ If Father Controls Career
The pop star has been on an indefinite work hiatus since early 2019. James Spears’ attorney, Vivian Lee Thoreen, defended what she said was his perfect record in his run as her conservator, which has seen her net worth go from in debt to well over $60 million. Thoreen argued that the disruption caused by his removal would do her the very harm the suspension is meant to prevent. “I don’t believe there is a shred of evidence to support my client’s suspension,” she said. Thoreen also objected to Ingham’s statements about the father-daughter relationship as inadmissible hearsay. The judge did approve that a corporate fiduciary, the Bessemer Trust, will now serve as co-conservator over her estate along with her father, which Britney Spears had requested. Most of the attorneys involved, along wi...
Recording Academy Has 1,345 New Voting Members—About 12% of Its Total
The Academy reports that 40% of those who accepted their invitations are female. Breaking it down by race, 53% are white, 23% are African American, 9% are Hispanic, 3% are Asian American and 5% are “other.” By age, 55% of new acceptances are age 39 or younger. Before this year’s freshman class joined the academy, women accounted for 26% of the academy’s overall membership. People from “traditionally under-represented communities” (meaning: non-white) accounted for 25%. People who are age 39 or younger accounted for 25%. Counting the new members, women continue to account for 26% of the academy’s overall membership. People from traditionally-underrepresented communities (non-white) now account for 27%. People who are 39 or younger now account for 28%. (If you’re puzzled why the percen...
PENGASSAN Strike: No need for panic buying – NNPC
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Tuesday dismissed mounting insinuation of possible scarcity of petroleum products following ongoing disagreement between the Federal Government and members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) on the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). Dr. Kennie Obateru, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Corporation, quoted Mallam Mele Kyari as saying, in a release, that the industrial action embarked upon by PENGASSAN would not lead to scarcity of petroleum products as all fuel stations and petrol depots in the country have enough stock of products to service consumers and are open for business. While expressing hope that the industrial dispute wo...
Spotify Scoops Up Podcast Ad Platform Megaphone in $235M Acquisition
It is little surprise that Spotify is making another big acquisition in the podcast space, following big deals with companies like Gimlet, Anchor and Parcast in the past two years. Since the beginning of 2019, CEO Daniel Ek has referred to audio as the future of the company, envisioning a world where Spotify was less dependent on music — and the content costs of such music — to gain and retain users, listener hours and, ideally, subscribers. In the past two months, Spotify announced a partnership with Chernin Entertainment to provide a pathway for its podcasts to turn into film and TV projects, and, through its Anchor platform, now allows music to be embedded into its shows without further licensing requirements. In late October, the company announced in its third quarter earni...
Racism on the Road: The Oral History of Black Artists Touring in the Segregated South
“We were happy, we were singing, we were joyful, we were away from home for the first time, youngsters on a magical show,” recalls Martha Reeves, lead singer of the girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, who toured through the South as part of Motown’s pioneering tours in the early ’60s. “But being met with the hatred, it was alarming — especially when the bus was shot at.” Below, Billboard presents an oral history of Black touring artists in the ’50s and ’60s, including interviews with Rock and Roll Hall of Famers and one-hit wonders, stars from the Motown and Stax soul labels, and veterans of the Motown Revue and Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars. All remain shocked and angry at the racism they experienced, mostly in the South, but a...
Kylie Minogue’s ‘Disco’ Dances to Lead on Midweek U.K. Chart
Coming in at No. 2 on the midweek chart is Confetti, just 2,200 combined sales behind Disco. It’s the most streamed album so far, and the biggest-selling title on CD, the OCC reports. Little Mix, winners of ITV’s The X Factor back in 2011, have hit the Top 5 with all their first five albums, with Glory Days from 2016 going to No. 1. Completing an all-new top three is Shirley Bassey’s farewell set I Owe It All To You (Decca) at No. 3. It’s shaping up to be the veteran Welsh singer’s highest-charting album in more than 40 years. Another Welsh artist is aiming for a Top 10 debut, Aled Jones. The classical singer’s Blessings (BMG) is new at No. 8, while Birmingham rapper Dutchavelli (real name Stephan Allen) is one place behind with his debut mixtape Dutch From The 5th (Parlophone). Over...
Archie Roach to be Inducted Into ARIA Hall of Fame
It was based on Roach’s own life and experiences. The album received two ARIA Awards in 1991 and “Took The Children Away” received an international Human Rights Achievement Award, the first time that the honor had been bestowed on a songwriter. The song is now preserved in the National Film And Sound Archive Of Australia. “Through the years writing and recording my songs as well as touring, has helped me to heal and connect to audiences around the country,” comments Roach on his induction. “To be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame is validation that no matter where you have come from and the struggles that you had to overcome through the years, that you can achieve great things if you set your mind and heart to it. Your achievements are only as good as the people around you and I have bee...
Live Nation’s Third Quarter Earnings: Five Questions Answered
But the game of attrition could end next summer. Live Nation’s earnings call Thursday became outdated after news of a successful COVID-19 vaccine trial was released on Monday (Nov. 9). Its share price jumped as much as 38.7% Monday morning after drug companies Pfizer and BioNTech announced their vaccine was 90% effective in a large-scale trial. The vaccine could be available late this year and widely distributed before the lucrative summer touring season. Keeping in mind the recent news, here are five questions that were answered with Live Nation’s third-quarter earnings. Where does Live Nation’s liquidity stand? Live Nation has enough capital to last through 2021. On Sept. 30, Live Nation had $2.6 billion of total cash and cash equivalents (vs. $3.3 billion in the second quarter), includi...
Nigerian government exempts Dangote from border closure – report
The Nigerian government has allowed Dangote Cement to resume exports across its land borders, Bloomberg reports. This is despite the closure of all land borders by the government for over one year. The move has, however, raised hopes that Nigeria may be opening up trade with neighbors after a year-long blockade. The administration of the President Muhammadu Buhari gave its authorisation for Africa’s biggest producer to export cement to Niger and Togo in the third quarter for the first time in ten months, Michel Puchercos, chief executive officer, said on an investor call in Lagos. The export was made possible “through authorisation given by this administration,” he said. The exemption to Dangote Cement is seen as a softening of the government’s position on a border closure that started in ...
Warner Chappell Music’s Guy Moot and Carianne Marshall On a Global Future and Competing With ‘Fund Guys’
Moot is a London native who spent a decade at EMI Music Publishing before helping lead its merger with Sony/ATV, where he rose to president of worldwide creative before coming to Warner. Marshall hails from Los Angeles and spent 12 years helping to establish the independent powerhouse SONGS Music Publishing before its 2017 sale to Kobalt. Together, Warner Chappell has two executives with extensive backgrounds on the creative side of the business. So far, they’ve already applied those talents toward big-name signings (Frank Ocean, Thomas Rhett, the Quincy Jones catalog, the Pop Smoke estate); a revamped creative suite with a new department dedicated to creative services; a more prioritized global hierarchy, including new global heads of administration, international A&R and synchronizat...
