business
ComercioPartners urges corporate organisations to leverage on pandemic opportunities
Investment banking company ComercioPartners has tasked fellow corporate organisations in the country to tinker their business model in order to take advantage of the opportunities provided by COVID-19 pandemic, The company said while other companies are lamenting the effects of the pandemic, it has leveraged on the new business environment, provided by the pandemic, to deepen its resources. Head, Financial Advisory of the company, Steve Osho, said: “Occurrences such as the pandemic brings an opportunity which forward-looking organisations leverage on to hit it big. “For us, even with the pandemic, we see a great future in Africa.” Osho, at a recent virtual investment lecture, stated that in Comercio, the dream of the future is better than the history of the past. He added that “by leveragi...
UTA to Reinstate Staff Pay, Lay Off 50 Employees
United Talent Agency CEO Jeremy Zimmer told staff Wednesday of impending increases in pay for hourly employees. In a memo to staff on Wednesday, United Talent Agency CEO Jeremy Zimmer delivered both “positive” and “difficult” news, writing that the agency would be reinstating full pay to its employees in the next two weeks, but would also be laying off 50 staffers. UTA is the first of the major agencies that cut salaries at the beginning of the pandemic to offer to reinstate full pay. The layoffs will affect both current and some furloughed employees across several divisions, at both the assistant and agent level. (The agency will cover the COBRA health insurance payments of that laid off for an indeterminate period of time.) In May, UTA, which employs more than 1,1...
Gary Clark Jr., Tones and I to Headline The Surf Lodge Virtual Concert Benefit
The Endless Summer series isn’t quite over: Gary Clark Jr., Tones and I, Oli Benz and Blackillac will take the stage this weekend. This weekend, The Surf Lodge will close out its summer programming schedule with a two-night concert event. In partnership with Bumble and The Governors Ball, the virtual celebration will feature Australian breakthrough artist Tones and I on Saturday evening with opener Oli Benz at 7:30 p.m. EST. On Sunday night, Gary Clark Jr. will close out the weekend with opener Blackillac, also at 7:30 p.m. EST. One of Clark’s previous performances at The Surf Lodge has been viewed 5.6 million times on YouTube. The events serve as fundraisers for Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative, an organization that works to end mass incarceration, excessive punishme...
The Mavericks Debut at No. 1 on Latin Pop Albums Chart with ‘En Español’: ‘This is Beyond Us’
The set marks the country music band’s first full-length foray into its Hispanic roots. The Mavericks debut at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Latin Pop Albums chart (dated Sept. 5) with En Español. The band concurrently earns its first top 10 on the all-genre Top Latin Albums chart, where the set bows at No. 8. The new album marks the first visit to the Latin album charts by the group, which has notched five top 10 efforts on the Top Country Albums chart dating back to 1994. “This is an amazing feeling,” Raul Malo, The Mavericks’ lead singer, tells Billboard. “To wake up and receive a text from our manager that we have a No. 1 record. That’s not in the cards, this is beyond us. But you feel good about the work because you’ve put a lot of effort, a lot of love and time...
Bigsound 2020 Switches to All-Virtual Event
Bigsound 2020 is flicking the switch to an all-digital program. Earlier, the Australian industry conference and showcase event was pushed back by almost two months with a condensed COVIDsafe format, spread over two days and nights from Oct. 21. “We feel like we’re looking after an event that’s owned by the industry,” Angela Samut, CEO of QMusic, told Billboard in mid-July. “It’s an export event,” noted Samut, whose organization produces the annual event in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, now entering its 19th year. “That’s our point of difference.” This being the year of the pandemic, expect the unexpected. With coronavirus hotspots blowing up on Australia’s east coast, domestic border closures and the city of Melbourne entering a second lockdown, Bigsound organizers on Thursday (Sept. ...
NOA mobilizes Sokoto communities against open defecation
File Photo The National Orientation Agency (NOA), has commenced active community engagements against open defecations in rural communities in Sokoto State. The state Director of NOA, Alhaji Maude Danchadi disclosed this at a stakeholders meeting on ‘Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet’ campaign, held on Wednesday in Sokoto. He said that the campaign was in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources. He said that NOA would deploy its robust structures and officials in local government areas to promote reorientation and mobilise Nigerians for social change and prevention of open defecations. Danchadi noted that open defecation and poor sanitation have implication on public health, especially in the outbreak of water-borne diseases, and high mortality rate in rural areas. According to...
Best Balcony In The House: Two Entrepreneurs Look to Reimagine Hotels As Concert Venues During COVID-19
Hospitality veterans Rob DelliBovi and Elana Leaf envision the hotel concerts as immersive, high-end experiences. Hospitality veterans Rob DelliBovi and Elana Leaf have a simple idea to meet the demand of concert fans stuck at home. The concept: host concerts at hotels with multiple floors and have fans watch the show from their room’s balcony. “Out of moments of crisis come great opportunities,” explains Leaf, who, along with Dellibovi and millions of other Americans, has had to make a career shift in the COVID-19 economy. Dellibovi is a successful hotel and travel consultant who has worked with some of the top brands in hospitality, while Leaf is a veteran of live events, marketing and branding with a diverse roster of clients that has included Google, Ni...
Metallica Eye Fourth No. 1 In U.K. With ‘S&M2’
The race is on for a U.K. albums chart title, with five new releases jostling for position. Just 3,000 combined sales separate the all-new top five, according to the Official Charts Company, with Bay Area metal veterans Metallica the best chance for the crown. Metallica’s live album S&M2 (Vertigo) leads the midweek chart and could go on to give the band their fourth U.K. No. 1 and first since 2008’s Death Magnetic. Some 2,000 chart sales behind in second place on the Official Chart Update is jazz artist Gregory Porter’s All Rise (Blue Note), the most downloaded album over the Bank Holiday weekend. London hip-hop artist Nines (real name Courtney Freckleton) arrives at No. 3 on the midweek chart with Crabs In A Bucket (Warner Records), the most streamed album in the firs...
BMG Posts Solid First Half of 2020, With Revenue Jumping 4.8% and Streaming Up 26%
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the company says it just had its best first half since launching in 2008. The pandemic-causing economic downturn didn’t slow down BMG as the music company posted a 4.8% increase in revenue to €282 million euros ($310.8 million) at the mid-year point ended June 30, up from €269 million ($303.9 million) in the year-earlier period. The music operation of German conglomerate Bertelsmann also managed to hold its own in terms of profit, posting €49 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, the same amount it had in the first half of 2019. But with profit levels holding steady while revenue grew, that resulted in EBITDA margin falling to 17.3% from 18.1% in the prior half year results. The results represent the company’s “...
Look, Up In the Sky: Amazon Gets Approval to Deliver Packages by Drone
Getting an Amazon package delivered from the sky is closer to becoming a reality. The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday (Aug. 31) it had granted Amazon approval to deliver packages by drones. Amazon said that the approval is an “important step,” but added that it is still testing and flying the drones. It did not say when it expected drones to make deliveries to shoppers. The online shopping giant has been working on drone delivery for years, but it has been slowed by regulatory hurdles. Back in December 2013, Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos said in a TV interview that drones would be flying to customer’s homes within five years. Last year, Amazon unveiled self-piloting drones that are fully electric, can carry 5 pounds of goods and are designed to deliver items in 30 minutes b...
Johnny Depp Seeks Defamation Trial Delay
The novel coronavirus pandemic has shifted release calendars and postponed productions in Hollywood and abroad — and the delay of the latest installment of the Fantastic Beasts franchise has created an “irreconcilable conflict” for Johnny Depp. Filming is now expected to extend into early 2021, overlapping with the trial in his defamation suit against Amber Heard. The actor in March 2019 sued his ex-wife for defamation over an op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post titled “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.” Depp isn’t mentioned by name, but in Virginia (where he’s suing and the Post has its printing presses) plaintiffs can pursue claims for defamation by inference, implication or insinuation. O...
Building A Better Livestream: Crucial Lessons From Artists Who’ve Figured It Out
Practical advice from the players behind virtual concerts by Kane Brown, Dropkick Murphys, H.E.R. and Lissie. The first time singer-songwriter Lissie tried a livestream, in late March, she was at her then-boyfriend’s house in northern Virginia, and she had just managed to thank those in attendance — two dogs in the kitchen — before the camera fell to the floor. “This is so professional!” she declared. But over the months, both her equipment and her savvy became increasingly sophisticated, with the response to her ticketed streams strong enough to cover personal costs and make a charitable donation each time. (She also broadcast her rehearsals for fans who couldn’t afford a ticket.) On Aug. 2, she performed with a band and a dozen sound and lighting crew members at an empty Parkway The...
