business
Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’ Tops Midweek Chart In U.K.
Taylor Swift’s Folklore is in pole position for a third consecutive week at No. 1 in the U.K., though her challengers aren’t far behind. Folklore is the most streamed album week in the first half of the chart cycle to lead the Official Chart Update. Glass Animals’ Dreamland (Polydor) is just 600 chart sales behind in second place, and is the week’s best seller on physical formats, the OCC reports. Dreamland should give the English psychedelic pop outfit their first Top 10, besting the No. 23 peak of their sophomore 2016 album How To Be A Human Being. {“nid”:”9431667″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Taylor Swift's 'Folklore' Outraces Fontaines D.C.'s 'A Hero\u2019s Death' For U.K. Chart Title”...
Musicians Criticize Jeff Bezos’ ‘Willful Blindness’ to Twitch Music Royalties
While testifying at a congressional hearing late last month, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos admitted that he wasn’t sure whether or not the company pays royalties for the music users stream on Amazon-owned livestreaming platform Twitch (it doesn’t). His response angered artist-run non-profit Artist Rights Alliance, which has sent a letter to Bezos challenging him to pay artists their fair share, as music streaming on Twitch continues to surge. “We were appalled […] by your inability or unwillingness to answer even the most basic question about Twitch’s practices in this regard,” the letter reads. “As Twitch uses music to grow its audience and shape its brand, the company owes creators more than the willful blindness and vague platitudes you offered du...
Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’ Enters Second Week at No. 1 In Australia
Taylor Swift’s Folklore (Republic/Universal) rules Australia’s albums chart for a second successive week in Australia as Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo’s “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” (Columbia/Sony) bounces back to the summit in its eighth week on the singles survey. Folklore is one of six Swift albums to hit No. 1 in Australia with her 2014 set 1989 logging the most time at the top, at nine weeks. Wollongong surf rock duo Hockey Dad land a career best with their third album Brain Candy (BMG/Warner), new at No. 2. It’s the followup from 2018’s Blend Inn, which peaked at No. 6 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Brain Candy is this week’s best-seller on vinyl. Dropping in at No. 3 is the new album from veteran singer-songwriter Paul Kelly and pianist/composer Paul Grabowsky, Please Leav...
Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’ Outraces Fontaines D.C.’s ‘A Hero’s Death’ For U.K. Chart Title
The U.K. chart week was a game of two halves as Taylor Swift’s Folklore started slow but pulled away to snag a second successive week at No. 1. Folklore fell to No. 3 in the first half of the week, with Irish rockers Fontaines D.C. looking well set for their first No. 1 with A Hero’s Death (Partisan). However, Swift and her U.K. record company EMI changed the course of the race by bringing forward the release of Folklore on CD, and the LP dashed to the finish line in first position. When all streams and sales were tallied up, Folklore finished 3,500 chart sales ahead of Fontaines D.C.’s second set, which starts at No. 2 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart and is the market-leader in vinyl sales. {“nid”:”9431617″,”type”:”post”,”title”...
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘WAP’ On Track For Highest New Chart Entry In U.K.
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion new collaboration “WAP” has bolted out the gate in the U.K., while Joel Corry and MNEK’s “Head & Heart” (Asylum/Perfect Havoc) is on track for a fourth week at No. 1. “Head & Heart” leads the Official Chart First Look, based on preliminary sales and streaming data from the first 48 hours of the chart cycle. It’s an unchanged top five on the chart blast with Jawsh 685 & Jason Derulo’s “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” (RCA), Nathan Dawe featuring KSI’s “Lighter” (Atlantic), Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar” (Columbia) and AJ Tracey & Mabel’s “West Ten” (AJ Tracey) filling up the top spots, respectively. {“nid”:”9431667″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Taylor Swift's 'Folk...
Madonna Out of Interscope Deal After Nearly a Decade
Sources close to Madonna confirm to Billboard that the Queen of Pop is out of her deal with Interscope after nearly a decade. The iconic singer first inked a three-album deal with Interscope in 2011 at a base of $1 million per LP; with the release of Madame X in 2019, that three-album deal is up, and Madge is eying a new label to call home. While The Sun reports that Madonna is considering a return to Warner Music (which was known as Warner Bros. when she called it home for her series of albums released from 1983-2008), sources tell Billboard that she has not inked a new deal anywhere as of Saturday (Aug. 8) and any talks are in early stages. Warner Music declined to comment for this story. Madonna’s three albums for Interscope include the Billboard 200 toppers MDNA (2012) and Madame...
Appeal Ruling on Publisher Royalty Rate Hike Looks Like it Favors Digital Services Contentions: Sources
Spotify, Amazon, Pandora and YouTube have been handed a procedural victory on their appeal to a 44% royalty rate increase for songwriters and publishers, sources tell Billboard. The U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. that reviewed the digital services’ appeal on the Copyright Royalty Board’s (CRB) mechanical rate determination has thrown out the rate structure cobbled together by a majority of the board’s three judges, Billboard has learned. The ruling, which is under seal, could wash away the rate increase that the CRB judges — in a split 2–1 decision — had awarded songwriters and music publishers in January 2018. The CRB ruling was finalized in February 2019 and appealed by digital services a month later on grounds of procedural issues with how the CRB determined...
How Struggling Indie Venues Are Lobbying Local Governments for Support — And Getting Some
As Congress debated the next federal coronavirus aid package this week in Washington, independent music venues across the country have been waiting in anticipation for what will either be a saving grace or a devastating blow to their businesses. Now, as Capitol Hill heads into the weekend with a planned recess days away, there’s still no clarity whether proposed legislation supporting these businesses that have been shuttered since mid-March will make their way into a final package and save an estimated 90% of them from closure by the end of the year. The Save Our Stages Act, introduced by Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on July 22, would establish a $10 billion grant program exclusively for live venue operators, promoters, producers and talent representatives. The Restar...
Digital Services’ Appeal of Publisher Rate Hike Headed Back to Copyright Royalty Board: Sources
The U.S. Court of Appeals reviewing an appeal from Spotify, Amazon, Pandora and YouTube over the Copyright Royalty Board’s mechanical rate determination has remanded the case back to the CRB, sources tell Billboard. At press time the decision was sealed, so industry sources weren’t clear on what issues the Washington, D.C. Circuit Appeals Court had with the CRB rate ruling, other than it apparently was due to procedural issues. But procedural issues were at the heart of the digital services’ appeal and, at its most extreme, this could mean the ruling vacated the process that yielded a 44% rate increase for publisher royalties. {“nid”:”8502707″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Why Spotify's Appeal of The CRB Rate Decision Is A Hug...
Digital Media Company LiveXLive Had an OK Quarter, But It’s Got a Long Way to Go
What three letters best explain the modest gains LiveXLive unveiled during its quarterly earnings call Thursday? The would be P-P-P as in the Paycheck Protection Program. Nearly all of the company’s $3.5 million reduction in spending for the quarter appeared to have come from the almost $2 million federal loan it received in March, coupled with $1.4 million in reductions of employee salaries and other expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. That helped LiveXLive achieve its “best quarter in the history of the company,” according to CEO and chairman Rob Ellin, who reported a 11% increase in revenue and a quarterly loss of $7.5 million, or $0.13 per share. That missed the consensus estimate of a loss of $0.12, but marked a significant improvement from a loss of $0.21 per share a year ago (tot...
Inside Pollen, the Mysterious Hit Spotify Playlist Where No Rules Apply
In mid-2018, a team of Spotify employees were preparing a new, genre-less playlist — one of the first of its kind for the streaming service, which was shaking up the industry with its hit-making hip-hop playlist RapCaviar. But they couldn’t decide on a title and cover design that would encompass the playlist’s eclectic sound without putting a box around it. “It was an eight-month saga,” Spotify North America team lead of music culture & editorial John Stein now remembers with a chuckle — until Spotify then-creative director Cecilia Azcarate began playing around with intricate, anatomical drawings of the insides of flowers. “The word ‘pollen’ was thrown around, and we all liked how symmetrical it felt,” Stein says. “There’s a c...
Australian Music Industry Launches Anti-Harassment Initiative ‘Don’t Be That Guy’
BRISBANE, Australia — Enough is enough. A nucleus of Australian music industry professionals has banded together for a campaign with a message to all the misogynists out there, “don’t be that guy.” This week saw the launch of the Music Industry Collaborative Commitment, a shareable tool and resource for artists to use as they enter into one-to-one situations with collaborators or potential business partners. The Commitment is a set of common-sense commandments, intended to create a platform for safety and confidence for music-makers as they pursue opportunities where, sadly, barriers still firmly exist. {“nid”:”9429485″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Wayne Connolly, Celebrated Australian Producer and Engineer, Laun...
