business
Taylor Swift, Post Malone & More Artists Who Could Make History at the 2020 BBMAs
Juice WRLD, Avicii and Whitney Houston were all nominated posthumously. Post Malone and Lil Nas X are this year’s leading nominees for the Billboard Music Awards, with 16 and 13 nods, respectively. They are followed by Billie Eilish and Khalid, with 12 nods each; and Lizzo, with 11. See the full list of nominees here. The awards, which were originally scheduled for April 29, will finally be handed out on Oct. 14. Kelly Clarkson will host the show for the third straight year. This year’s BBMAs are based on the chart period of March 23, 2019 through March 14, 2020. A statement from the Billboard Music Awards explains: “The original eligibility period will remain intact to recognize and honor the chart-topping artists and musical successes achieved and to maintain consistent tracking per...
Former Paradigm, WME Agents Launch Mint Talent Group
After the Coronavirus crisis devastated the music touring business and left creators with an uncertain future, former Paradigm agents Patrick McAuliff and Phil Egenthal and ex-William Morris Endeavor agent C. J. Strock have combined to launch Mint Talent Agency. Founding agents also include Mary Allen and Cassie Siegel, formerly of Madison House, Michael Morris and Ryan Owens, also from Paradigm, former WME agent Peter Wiederlight and Logan Handelsman, most recently with CAA. Mint as a booking agency and entertainment company says it aims at “career longevity” for artists by securing film, TV and brand endorsement deals in the near term. That comes as the live events business eyes a return to scale in 2021 at the earliest as public health officials continue to rule out la...
A Supreme Court Without RBG May Impact Hollywood’s Grip on Intellectual Property
When Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday at the age of 87, the country lost a true champion of equality. The story of the “Notorious R.B.G.,” the Supreme Court’s second female justice, has been told repeatedly in media, books, and films including RBG and On the Basis of Sex. From being an architect of the women’s rights movement in the 1970s to spending her later years on the high court fighting for the rights of the less advantaged (see for example her concurring opinion just months ago in Comcast v. NAAAOM), her lifetime of service will deservedly be lionized. But there was a less noticed aspect of Ginsburg — and her untimely loss will influence the course of industry. On Oct. 7, the U.S. Supreme Court holds an oral argument in Google LLC v. Oracle America Inc., th...
Ava Max’s ‘Heaven & Hell’ Leads Action-Packed Midweek U.K. Chart
Ava Max’s debut album Heaven & Hell (Atlantic) blasts into an early lead in what’s shaping as a classic U.K. chart race. Heaven & Hell leads an action-packed midweek chart, ahead of Live At The Roundhouse (Sony Music CG), the 2019 live recording from Saucerful of Secrets, the prog-rock supergroup of Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. The top five is bunched tight at the halfway point. According to the Official Charts Company, just 1,700 chart sales separate Heaven & Hell from the current fifth-ranked album, Potter Payper’s Training Day 3 (2020 Potter Payper). Also cracking the lead pack, at No. 3, is Yusuf / Cat Stevens’ Tea For The Tillerman 2 (UMC), a rerecording of the veteran singer-songwriter’s 1970 set which originally peaked at No. 20. Hip-hop outfit Run The Jewels reen...
Trump Backs Proposed Deal to Keep TikTok Operating In U.S.
President Donald Trump said Saturday he’s given his “blessing” to a proposed deal that would see the popular video-sharing app TikTok partner with Oracle and Walmart and form a U.S. company. Trump has targeted Chinese-owned TikTok for national security and data privacy concerns in the latest flashpoint in the rising tensions between Washington and Beijing. The president’s support for a deal comes just a day after the Commerce Department announced restrictions that if put in place could eventually make it nearly impossible for TikTok’s legions of younger fans to use the app. Trump said if completed the deal would create a new company likely to be based in Texas. “I have given the deal my blessing,” he said. “If they get it done, that’s great. If they don’t, that’s OK too.” Trump said the ne...
Following TikTok Deal, Judge Agrees to Delay U.S. Restrictions on WeChat
A judge has approved a request from a group of U.S. WeChat users to delay looming federal government restrictions that could effectively make the popular app nearly impossible to use. In a ruling dated Saturday, Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in California said the government’s actions would affect users’ First Amendment rights, as an effective ban on the app would remove their platform for communication. WeChat is a messaging-focused app popular with many Chinese-speaking Americans that serves as a lifeline to friends, family, customers and business contacts in China. It’s owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent. The group of WeChat users requested an injunction after the U.S. Commerce Department said Friday it would bar WeChat from U.S. app stores and keep it from accessing essential interne...
Justin Bieber Aiming For U.K. Top 10 Berth With ‘Holy’ Featuring Chance The Rapper
Justin Bieber could extend his run of U.K. Top 10 singles to 21 with “Holy,” though another No. 1 appears out of his reach for now. The Canadian pop singer’s collaboration with Chance The Rapper is the highest new entry on the Official Chart: First Look, starting at No. 10. The First Look survey captures sales and streaming data from the first 48 hours in the weekly chart cycle. At the top of the leaderboard is 24kGoldn’s “Mood” featuring Iann Dior, the most streamed track over the weekend. “Mood” usurps the current champion, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP,” which has lorded over the Official U.K. Singles Chart for three weeks. Also eying new chart peaks are Paul Woolford & Diplo’s “Looking For Me” featuring Kareen Lomax (No. 4); Jason Derulo’s “Take You Dancing” (No. 7); and M...
CSR: Dangote Cement commits N4 billion to projects in Ogun host communities
Makamba Online Dangote Cement Plc, says it has committed over N4 billion into various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects in its 14 host communities in Yewa land in Ogun. The company made this known in a statement signed by the Media and Community Relations Manager of Dangote Industries Limited, Mr Francis Awowole-Browne, on Sunday. “Since the inception of Dangote Cement in Ibese, in the last eight years of creation in Ogun, we have focused on construction and repairs of roads, building of blocks of classrooms, construction and repairs of healthcare facilities. “We have also provided boreholes, some electricity transformers, among others,” he said. The company itemised the projects as 40 classrooms, three health centres, 22 boreholes, three transformers totalling N4.1bn Among va...
Ebonyi relaxes restrictions on worship centres, drinking parlours, schools
Following reduction in the number of COVID-19 cases Ebonyi state government has relaxed restrictions on events and gathering of persons in the state. The state government directed that all private and public schools, tertiary institutions could reopen on 5th of October 2020. A press statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Barr. Uchenna Orji, stated that “All restrictions in respect of movement order on public burials/ wake keeps, weddings, conferences, meetings, festivals, religious services/gatherings, etc are hereby lifted”. “That all closures of public places such as event centres, bars, places of worship, educational institutions, public parks, night clubs, cinemas, viewing centres and other such public places are hereby lifted”, he added. The docume...
Ekiti partners NEPC to export banana
Ekiti State Commissioner for Trade and Industries, Mr Muyiwa Olumilua, has reiterated the commitment of the Kayode Fayemi-led administration to creating an enabling environment for individuals and corporate bodies. Speaking in Ado Ekiti while declaring open a Stakeholders’ Forum on Banana Development for Export, Olumilua noted that the various proactive programmes embarked upon by the investor-friendly administration has created an enabling environment for investment to thrive in the State. Olumilua listed some of the administration’s projects to include the establishment of a cargo airport to ease transportation of goods to and from the State, clearing of 5,000 hectares of land for farming, facilitation of the establishment of the NEPC office in the State, to eliminate the stress of going...
Warner Music CEO Stephen Cooper Discusses the ‘New Era in Music Entertainment’
“Music has gone way beyond singles, albums and videos,” he said during Goldman Sachs’ Communacopia conference, touching on TikTok, gaming, streaming expansion and more. Warner Music Group (WMG) CEO Stephen Cooper discussed the now publicly-traded company’s streaming-fueled growth and future outlook during Goldman Sachs’ virtual Communacopia conference Thursday, envisioning that music’s continued application to social media, fitness, TV and film and other businesses will ring in a “new era in music entertainment.” “Music has gone way beyond singles, albums and videos,” he said. “Subscription streaming is just the beginning.” Specifically, the executive pointed to Peloton, TikTok and video games (including in-game p...
Thomas Coesfeld to Succeed BMG’s Maximilian Dressendörfer as CFO
Thomas Coesfeld has been named deputy chief financial officer at BMG, effective Oct. 15. He will assume the role of CFO on April 1, 2021, succeeding Maximilian Dressendörfer, who is taking on new responsibilities at the company. Since June 2019, Coesfeld has served as chief strategy officer on the executive committee of the Bertelsmann Printing Group, a division of BMG’s parent company Bertelsmann. He also serves as CSO at Mohn Media. In his new role, he will report to BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch and Bertelsmann CFO Bernd Hirsch. Coesfeld began his career in 2014 as a management consultant at McKinsey in Munich, Germany, where he gained experience in sales and strategy with a focus on the insurance, logistics, and automotive industries. He joined Bertelsmann at the top of 2016 and spent a year ...
