INDUSTRY
AU welcomes Nigeria ahead of AfCFTA kick-off
The African Union Commissioner for Trade and Industry, Albert Muchanga, said in Addis Ababa on Friday that instruments signifying Nigeria’s entry into the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will be received at the commission’s headquarters shortly ahead of next year’s kick-off of trading. Speaking during the AfCFTA Business Forum 2020 to discuss the status of preparations to launch the continental trading, Muchanga said the launch of trading will facilitate the growth of African enterprise and enhance the capacity of industries producing goods to a wider population. Nigeria, which signed the AfCFTA agreement in 2019, officially ratified the agreement on 12 November. The instruments of ratification are expected to be received at the AU on Saturday, 5 December, the deadline for the...
Watch the Design Museum’s New Documentary Celebrating Black Electronic Musicians in London
The Design Museum in London has a very close relationship with the world’s electronic music scene. With a recent exhibit centered around the godfathers of electronic music, Kraftwerk, the museum explored some of the genre’s pioneers. Now, The Design Museum seeks to highlight some of electronic’s current innovators. The New Rave is The Design Museum’s new documentary that will delve into some of London’s most prominent Black musicians, in collaboration with creative studio Play Nice. “The current Design Museum exhibition Electronic: From Kraftwerk to The Chemical Brothers tells stories of some of the rebels and mavericks who helped build the world of electronic music,” said the Museum in a statement, also posing the question, &#...
Nigeria most expensive for upstream projects – NNPC chief
The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mele Kyari, has disclosed that Nigeria remains one of the most expensive countries in the world for petroleum upstream projects. Upstream is refers to points in production that originate early on in the processes of crude oil production. Its activities include exploration, drilling, and extraction. Kyari made this known at the Nigerian Content Tower in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State during a review meeting with the Permanent Secretary, directors and chief executives of agencies in the Petroleum ministry. According to him, “Nigeria is one of the most expensive territories in the world for upstream projection and part of the corporation’s mandate is to reduce cost by at least five percent. “We have reduced costs substantiall...
Spotify Has Invented AI Technology for Songwriters to Detect Plagiarism
Spotify has filed a new European patent after inventing technology for songwriters to detect and combat plagiarism. According to a report published by Music Business Worldwide, the streaming giant recently filed a patent for a “Plagiarism Risk Detector And Interface” that is able to detect plagiarism in a musician’s lead sheets. For our non-musician readers, a lead sheet is a form of musical score that notates a song’s core elements, including its melody, lyrics, and harmony. With Spotify’s new tech, musicians are able to feed their lead sheets through a “plagiarism detector,” which would then cross-reference its components with the encoded lead sheets of Spotify’s vast library of songs. The platform will then spit out a s...
Everyone is Sharing Their Spotify 2020 “Wrapped” Roundup—Find Yours Here
Thanks to the impact of COVID-19, 2020 was a catastrophic tsunami of a year for the music industry. But we’re almost at the finish line. Before we come up for air, though, Spotify has begun the rollout of their “Wrapped” campaign, which lets listeners discover just how much time they spent streaming on the platform. “Wrapped” offers a personalized virtual storybook of listening habits to each of its users. You’re able to find out how many minutes of music you’ve listened to on Spotify, your top artists of the year, and even whether or not you were in the top percentage of those artists’ most frequent listeners. Beyond just seeing your listening stats, you can also access a curated playlist of your top 100 songs of the year, in case you ...
UK Government Accused of Intentionally Trying to Collapse Nightlife Sector
The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) describes itself as the lobbying organization on behalf of the UK’s nightlife sector, a $66 billion industry and employer of 8% of Britain’s workforce. From a policy perspective, the organization relies on productive dialogue with government officials to advocate for the sector’s best interest, but with prolonged COVID-19 restrictions still in place and limited transparency from the government, it seems talks have all but broken down between the parties. On Wednesday, December 2nd, the government’s latest instantiation of restrictions are scheduled to go into effect. The regulations, the NTIA argues, will continue to disproportionately impact the hospitality industry, as pubs, bars, and restaurants will be...
Streaming Symmetry: See the Countries Where Apple Music is Cheaper Than Spotify—and Vice Versa
CashNetUSA‘s personal finance blog SavingSpot recently published a study that highlights the difference in the cost of an Apple Music subscription between countries. Their data shows both the actual cost of the monthly subscription and also the relative cost which computes the subscription price as a percentage of the country’s average monthly income. As shown in the infographic below, India, China, and Turkey have the cheapest monthly subscription costs while listeners in Denmark, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom have the highest costs. However, the ensuing charts—which compare the costs to monthly income—show that Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and Macau pay the least while subscribers in Niger, Mozambique, and Madagascar pay the most when the cost is examined in t...
With New Global Directory of Creators, FEMNØISE Works to Close the Music Industry Gender Gap
Launched in 2017 as a music industry collective for women, transgender and non-binary creators, Barcelona-based organization FEMNØISE has been actively working to close the gender gap through activism, discussion forums and virtual community building. With the launch of a new interactive map on the group’s website, FEMNØISE’s nearly 2,000 members from all backgrounds in the industry can now find each other around the globe, making a smooth system for professionals and emerging talent to forge new relationships and hire each other. Looking at the big picture, this move will empower the collective’s network to make meaningful connections and expand the pool of creators with marginalized gender identities. “Our idea is to serve as a bridge between d...
NAICOM issues operating licenses to 4 insurers, 1 reinsurance firms
File Photo The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has granted operating licenses to four insurance firms and one reinsurance company to operate in the nation’s insurance industry. The four insurance firms are Heirs Insurance Limited (General); Stanbic IBTC Insurance Limited; Heirs Life Assurance Limited; Enterprise Life Company Nigeria Limited; and FBS Reinsurance Limited. The Commissioner for Insurance, Sunday Thomas, while presenting the licenses to the companies in Abuja, said that they have met the statutory requirements to carry out insurance business in Nigeria. Meanwhile, Heirs Insurance Limited (general) has appointed Olaniyi Stephen Onifade as its Managing Director; Stanbic IBTC Insurance Limited appointed Akinjide Orimolade as Managing Director; Heirs Life Assurance Limited a...
Holiday shopping moves online amid surging coronavirus, retailers face shaky prospects
File Photo Long lines and crowds at shopping centers have been as much a Thanksgiving tradition as the turkey dinner, but this year, things could look different. As COVID-19 numbers continue to surge, rushing to brick-and-mortar retail stores might seem not so appealing to many, and the holiday shopping season is moving online. “More and more shopping was already moving online, but COVID-19 concerns are definitely accelerating the shift to online buying,” David Reibstein, a marketing professor from Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, told Xinhua. The trend is evident as shown by recent data. Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, reported that its third-quarter e-commerce sales surged 79 percent from a year ago. Amazon, the largest e-commerce retailer, reported a 37 percent ...
Recession: The worse may be possibly over – Lagos chamber
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) says the nation’s economic contraction of 3.62 per cent of the third quarter against the 6.1 per cent of the second quarter of the year may indicate that the worst is over. The post Recession: The worse may be possibly over – Lagos chamber appeared first on TODAY. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Spotify for Artists Introduces Canvas Designer Marketplace via SoundBetter
Artists now have more custom options for Canvas video creation than ever before. Spotify For Artists just unveiled its latest feature that will make it easier than ever for artists to engage more with listeners. Canvas, the feature that allows artists to upload three to eight second visual clips that loop during playback of some Spotify releases, was just improved with the addition of the Canvas Designer Marketplace. The new feature is available through SoundBetter, the platform’s music production arm that allows artists to find studios, audio engineers, singers, and freelance music professionals. With the Canvas Designer Marketplace, users can now connect with visual artists to create custom Canvas visuals for their new releases. Those artists are experts at cr...
