business
Music Exec Andrew Jackson Partners With Sony Music Australia for Joint Venture Label Avoca Drive
Music executive Andrew Jackson has partnered with Sony Music Entertainment Australia to launch Avoca Drive, a joint venture label with A&R executives in both Los Angeles and Sydney, Australia. Avoca Drive’s first signing is Tanisha Tishawiana Sadewo and Osvaldo Rio Nugroho Aritonang’s new project Galdive, whose first single ‘Nescience’ drops Friday (July 17). Galdive is “this beautiful young male/female duo who just make pure ear candy – playful, sweet and universally appealing,” explains Jackson, who plans to work with a network of international songwriters and producers to find new artists and promote them “internationally with a hands-on approach tuned to artists’ needs commercially and creatively.” Jackson is the founder and direct...
The Streets, Juice Wrld Challenge For U.K. Albums Chart Title
Mike Skinner is streets ahead on the midweek U.K. albums chart. The Birmingham artist and producer, who records as The Streets, bolts to No. 1 on the Official Chart Update with None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive (Island), which takes the lead by almost 3,000 combined sales, according to the Official Charts Company. If it holds its position when the Official U.K Albums Chart is published this Friday, it’ll be The Streets’ first leader in 14 years. Skinner has tasted the high life twice. With his 2004 sophomore album A Grand Don’t Come For Free (for which he won the Brit Award for British male solo artist) and 2006’s The Hardest Way To Make A Living. In second place is Juice Wrld’s posthumous set Legends Never Die (Interscope), the leader on streams in the first half of the week, ...
Juice WRLD Set for Big Splash on U.K. Singles Chart
A trio of tracks from Juice WRLD’s posthumous album release Legends Never Die (Polydor) are pushing for top 20 berths on the U.K. singles chart. Following the weekend’s sales and streaming activity, the hip-hop artist’s “Come & Go” with Marshmello flies in at No. 10 on the Official Chart: First Look. Also, “Life’s A Mess” vaults 66-12 on the sales blast, and “Conversations” is at No. 14, according to the Official Charts Company. The 21-year-old rapper (real name Jared Anthony Higgins) died last December following an accidental overdose of painkillers. Juice WRLD has a posthumous U.K. No. 1 to his name, for his contribution on Eminem’s “Godzilla.” His next highest appearance on the Official U.K. Singles Chart is a No. 10 peak for his signature tune from 2018, “Lucid Dreams.” Legen...
Pop Smoke Lights up Australia’s Albums Chart With ‘Shoot For The Stars’
Pop Smoke, the fast-rising hip-hop artist whose life was taken in a home invasion at the age of just 20, is the new leader of Australia’s albums chart. The Los Angeles-based artist’s debut LP Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon (Universal) bows at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, with three tracks from it impacting the national singles survey (“The Woo” at No. 25, “For The Night” at No. 32 and “Dior” at No. 48). Pop Smoke’s posthumous release follows two mixtapes, Meet The Woo (2019) and Meet The Woo 2 (2020), the latter debuting at No. 33 last week and rising to No. 24 on the current list. Shoot For The Stars is the first posthumous LP to top the Australian chart in more than two years. The last to do so was Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu’s history-making Djarimirri (Child Of The Rainb...
Yeasayer Drop Copyright Lawsuit Against The Weeknd & Kendrick Lamar for ‘Black Panther’ Hit ‘Pray For Me’
Yeasayer voluntarily dismissed the copyright lawsuit against The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar over their Black Panther: The Album highlight “Pray For Me.” In this dismissal obtained by Billboard today (July 10), the indie rock band and its record label We Are Free “confirmed to their satisfaction that no copyright infringement occurred” by the defendants The Weeknd (real name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye), Lamar (Kendrick Lamar Duckworth), Canadian producers Doc McKinney (Martin “Doc” McKinney) and Frank Dukes (Adam King Feeney), and labels Universal Music Group, Interscope, Aftermath and Top Dawg Entertainment. In February 2018, “Pray For Me” propelled both The Weeknd and Lamar into another echelon of superstardom when it...
Nielsen to Shed 3,500 Jobs in Restructuring
Nielsen will cut up to 3,500 jobs as part of a restructuring of its businesses to save money and focus on its core holdings. The data company and TV ratings provider says the moves are part of a “broad-based optimization plan” to cut costs and make the remaining assets more efficient, as well as making Nielsen more profitable. Under the plan, Nielsen will “exit several smaller, underperforming markets and non-core businesses” in the next few months. The optimization plan includes cuts of 3,500 staff worldwide — about 8 percent of the company’s employees. “Across Nielsen Global Media and Nielsen Global Connect, we are making progress on increasing our operational and financial discipline, including zero-basing our cost structure as we move toward the plan...
Why NYC’s Entertainment Commissioner Sees Reopening Music Venues as a Chance to Rethink a ‘Flawed’ System
“It strengthens the argument that we really need to support our local venues, and for us to represent their needs at the table,” says Anne del Castillo. This week, New York City enters phase three of reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic, meaning the return of hair and nail salons, basketball courts and more spaces in addition to outdoor dining. But for local music venues from (Le) Poisson Rouge to Brooklyn’s Elsewhere — many of which faced rising rents, gentrification and other challenges even before the pandemic began — the road to reopening remains ongoing and uncertain. Anne del Castillo knows this struggle well. The New York City native took over as commissioner of Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) in April 2019, with a foc...
Paul Weller’s ‘On Sunset’ Heats up Midweek U.K. Albums Chart
Paul Weller shouts to the top of the U.K. midweek chart with On Sunset (Polydor), his fifteenth solo album. The former Style Council and The Jam frontman takes the lead on the Official Chart Update, with a 11,000 chart sales advantage over its nearest competitor, Pop Smoke’s posthumous debut Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon (Republic Records). If On Sunset holds its position when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published this Friday (July 10), it’ll be Weller’s first leader since Sonik Kicks opened at the summit, eight years ago. On Sunset will be the veteran British artist’s 20th solo Top 10 album, and it’s the best-seller across physical albums and downloads in the first half of the chart cycle. Pop Smoke’s debut comes in at No. 2 on the midweek albums chart, and three songs ...
Tones And I, Julia Jacklin, Flume & More Score Nominations for 2020 AIR Awards
With three nominations, Tones And I has a fine chance of taking home silverware at the 2020 AIR Awards, to be held Oct. 1 in Adelaide. Tones’ global hit “Dance Monkey” is up for independent song of the year, her debut EP The Kids are Coming is in the running for independent pop album or EP and she’s nominated for breakthrough independent artist of the year. The former busker is coming off the type of year most artists can only dream of. “Dance Monkey” led the ARIA Singles Chart for a whopping 24-weeks, easily an all-time record. And in the U.K., the song led the national singles tally for 11 weeks, the longest streak ever by a solo female artist. The track has now raced past seven billion streams across all platforms. In May of this year, Tones snagged two APRA Music Awards — includi...
U.S. ‘Looking At’ TikTok Ban Says Sec. of State Mike Pompeo
Sec. of State Mike Pompeo said that the U.S. would “certainly look at” banning Chinese social media apps including short-form video app TikTok over national security and privacy concerns. “With respect to Chinese apps on people’s cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too,” Pompeo said in an interview on Monday’s episode of Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle. “I don’t want to get out in front of the president, but it’s something we’re looking at.” Pompeo added that people should only download TikTok “if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.” The news comes as TikTok increasingly looks to distance itself from its parent company Beijing-based...
Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo’s ‘Savage Love’ Rules ARIA Singles Chart
Jawsh 685 claims a slice of history as “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” (Columbia/Sony), his collaboration with Jason Derulo, climbs to the summit of Australia’s singles chart. The Auckland producer (real name Joshua Stylah) becomes just the third New Zealander to lead the ARIA Singles Chart in its 37-year history. And at 17 years of age, he’s the youngest. It’s been nearly a quarter century since a Kiwi act led Australia’s singles chart. OMC last did it with “How Bizarre,” back in April 1996. The first New Zealander to lead the chart was Dave Dobbyn with Herbs’ “Slice Of Heaven” in May 1987. “Savage Love,” which also rules the Official U.K. Singles Chart this week, becomes the fourth No. 1 single in Australia for U.S. R&B singer Derulo after “In My Head” (February 2010), “Talk...
Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo’s ‘Savage Love’ Takes Early Lead In U.K. Chart Race
Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo’s “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” (RCA) is on track for a second week atop the U.K. singles chart. The single, combining the talents of 17-year-old New Zealand producer Joshua Stylah and featuring the vocals of U.S. R&B artist Derulo, climbed to the summit in its third week on the tally. Following the weekend’s sales and streaming activity, “Savage Love” pulls ahead with a lead of 2,300 combined sales, according to the Official Charts Company. It’s the top title on the Official Chart: First Look, ahead of Dababy’s “Rockstar” (Interscope) featuring Roddy Ricch, and Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me” (Interscope), respectively. AJ Tracey and Mabel’s “West Ten” should score the week’s highest new entry when the Official U.K. Sin...
