business
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 ...
The Long-Awaited Return of Cam — And Why She Took Her Time
Country singer Cam’s boundary-pushing new album will finally arrive this fall — and on a new label. Two years ago, Cam was at a crossroads in her career. In the spring of 2018, she embarked on the Listening Room Tour, a series of intimate club dates that featured stripped-down arrangements and the kind of real talk that goes down between friends over a bottle of wine. But at the same time, the relationship with her Nashville label was strained, and close to ending. Instead of letting that cast a shadow over her performances, it sparked something inside of her — and having a direct line to her audience was added fuel. “I remember being so fucking spicy,” she says now. “I was like, ‘Fuck it!’ I laughed so hard, and people had such a good time. I was like, ‘This is why I’m here, not the other...
Inside Amazon’s Big Push in Latin Music: Exclusive
The online retail giant launches its first major Latin music brand. Amazon Music is placing a new big focus on Latin music with the launch of “Amazon Music LAT!N,” a Latin music brand with a broad umbrella that includes over 100 new and revamped playlists, an emerging artist program, merchandise, video and multiple catalog programs among many other initiatives. Using the tagline “La Musica que nos conecta” (The music that connects us) — a reference to the fact that Latins come from many countries and cultures but are connected by music and language — the LAT!N hub, which includes music in Spanish and Portuguese, will live within Amazon at amazon.com/latinmusic. It seeks to establish Amazon as a major player in Latin music streaming and content, as well as retail. “T...
Complex Names Maurice Peebles New Editor-In-Chief
Complex Networks has named a new editor-in-chief to oversee its news and video operations: Maurice Peebles, who will take over the job beginning Oct. 5. Peebles, who most recently was digital editor-in-chief at SportsNet New York for two years, replaces Damien Scott, who left Complex in April, according to the company. Peebles is returning to the company where he started as a digital intern in 2006, and eventually became the deputy editor of its sports vertical for two years. He also spent time working at Bleacher Report, Barstool Sports and The Ladders. “We are excited for Maurice to rejoin Complex at such a pivotal and culture-shifting time not only for our company but also for media in general,” Complex general manager Donnie Kwak, to whom Peebles will report, said in a stat...
How Maria Schneider Is Using Her Jazz Orchestra to Take On Big Tech
The composer and bandleader — a Grammy favorite and a fierce advocate for artists’ rights — takes on the ‘Data Lords’ with her newest album. When Maria Schneider sits down to write music, it is seldom with a specific idea in her head. Lately, though, the celebrated orchestral jazz composer and bandleader — a five-time Grammy winner and a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master — has had a lot on her mind. “Early on, I became very aware that big data companies were using musicians as carrots so that they could gather data from users,” says Schneider, 59. “And this has been a huge frustration for me. It has really destroyed the music industry for those that make the music, and now I feel that for our society at large it’s a catastrophic loss.” That frustration fueled the idea...
