2020
Alibaba Group To Shutter China’s Xiami Music Service
Xiami is one of the smaller digital music services in China. While user numbers are not publicly available, Xiami’s music penetration was less than 2% in 2019, with about five million Monthly Active Users in mainland China, according to local Chinese reports. The country’s biggest streaming platforms are QQ Music, Kugou Music, Kuwo Music and WeSing, all owned by tech giant Tencent Music Entertainment Group. Collectively those four services have more than 800 million users, says Tencent. Tencent’s biggest competitor is NetEase Cloud Music, operated by Chinese internet company NetEase, which claims to have more than 600 million registered users. Xiami and NetEase Cloud Music cut a deal in 2018 for the streaming services to share libraries and grow their respective repertoires — a move seen a...
Chloe x Halle Debut a Polished Rendition of ‘Don’t Make It Harder On Me’
To say Chloe x Halle have dominated an unprecedented year in music somehow still feels like an understatement. The Atlanta-born sister duo has been on a tear in 2020, connecting with new audiences while reintroducing themselves to day-one fans with a slew of awe-inspiring performances like their recent outing with NPR’s Tiny Desk. And in a year spent without live music, there was no better way to commemorate the release of Ungodly Hour, their most critically acclaimed work to date. The 13-track LP resonated with audiences and earned its place on year-end lists from Rolling Stone, Variety and Time Magazine, largely due to the pair’s willingness to eschew the “angelic” image that was cast upon them in favor of flaunting their own imperfections. On songs like “Lonely” and “Wonder What She Thi...
Snoh Aalegra Debuts Exclusive “Find Someone Like You” and “I Want You Around” Performances
Artist Mentioned “When I was nine years old, I told my mom, ‘I’m going to be an artist, let’s do this,’” Snoh Aalegra laughs. Her mother picked up the phone book and started making calls. Without any demos or recordings to share, she landed a meeting with a studio executive who gave her young daughter a chance to sing for him. That eventually led to a development deal with Sony ATV in Sweden for the hopeful 13-year-old. At the time the family lived in Enköping and a young Aalegra had to travel 45 minutes to Stockholm after school and on the weekends to attend recording sessions. She looks back on those years fondly, remembering train rides as a time to sit quietly with her thoughts. In the first of two new exclusive performances, Aalegra returns to that familiar train setting w...
Som Livre, Brazil’s Largest Domestic Label, Put Up for Sale
Mass media conglomerate Grupo Globo is exploring a sale of Som Livre, Brazil’s largest domestic record label. Globo says the decision to try to sell the label doesn’t signal any concerns about the label’s performance in the world’s 10th-largest music market, but rather resulted from a strategic review of the assets in its portfolio. “Som Livre is an extremely solid and profitable business,” Jorge Nóbrega, Globo CEO, says in a statement. “Music remains very important in Globo’s portfolio, but we believe it is a good time to get out of the traditional label business and focus on the D2C (direct to consumer) strategy.” {“nid”:”9486080″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Will Investors Have Faith in Believe? French Music Company Is Latest t...
Soundtrack Your Brand Signs Global Licensing Deal With Universal Music
The Swedish company, which operates in 73 markets, is pushing to disrupt the background music segment of the market. The growing segment of music streaming for businesses has taken another step forward. Soundtrack Your Brand, a cloud-based music service that is trying to become the Spotify of the business streaming world, signed a global licensing deal with Universal Music Group to use its catalog of music on the platform. The Stockholm-based company, which says it is the world’s fastest growing B2B music platform, delivers the flexibility of music-streaming technology to brands and businesses. Founded in 2013 with Spotify as a co-founder, Soundtrack Your Brand operates in 73 countries and competes in the background music segment with startups like Rockbot as well as with entrenched player...
Mika Shares Letter to the Lebanese People ‘Devastated by the Apocalypse’
A massive warehouse explosion in Beirut last Tuesday (Aug. 4) killed at least 157 people and injured thousands more, devastating the city’s port area. As investigators continue to comb through the rubble, protesters have vented their anger against the Lebanese government, accusing leaders of years of negligence in the storing of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate linked to the blast. British glam-pop star Mika (real name Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr.), who was born in Beirut and whose mother was of Lebanese descent, wrote a letter to the Lebanese people to share in their grief and anger over the incident. Billboard was sent an English-language transcript: My dear Lebanon, My dear Beirut, It’s still early in the morning on the other side of the Mediterranean and I feel so close and yet so far a...
Ben Folds Serenades a Sucky Year with “2020” Performance on Colbert: Watch
At this point in 2020, it’s hard to even glance at any information source without deepening this sustained sense of despair. Imagine what it’s like for someone like Stephen Colbert, who has to actually put a smile on and joke about this dumpster fire of a year every night. Yet power to him, the late-night host continues on cheerily, even when a musical guest like Ben Folds comes on to remind him of how crappy everything is with a performance of “2020”. Folds delivered a #PlayAtHome performance of his new single on Thursday night’s Late Show. Colbert introduced the waltz by saying it “really captures the spirit of the moment” before the piano pop master took over from his (shockingly white) office. Sitting behind his keyboard, Folds asked, “How many years will we cram into one?” while ...
Ed Sheeran, Rolling Stones and More U.K. Music Stars Plead With Government for Live Sector Aid
Some 1,500 artists backing #LetTheMusicPlay warn of ‘mass insolvencies’ from ongoing concert lockdowns due to COVID-19. Some of the U.K.’s biggest music stars are pleading with their government to come to the aid of the £4.5 billion ($5.6 billion) live music sector during the coronavirus lockdown, warning that government support is vital to prevent “mass insolvencies.” A group of 1,500 artists — including Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, The Rolling Stones, Rita Ora and many others — signed a letter to Oliver Dowden, the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, urging the government to create a funding package for the live sector similar to what Germany’s government did last month. “With no end to social distancing in sight or financial support from government yet agreed,...
Coronavirus And Vision 2020
39.7Kshares 0 39.7K 0 0 0 0 0 CORONAVIRUS, WHAT IS IT WITH MY VISION 2020? Is this not year 2020 we’ve been waiting forever for? Maybe it is, or maybe it’s not. Yes the calendars claim we are in 2020. If the calendars are correct, this is the year when half the world expected dreams to find reality without much ado. Just when we were dotting our small i(s) and crossing our capital T(s) and seemed to be getting it right with our drive, suddenly the earthquake called Coronavirus hit us at a Richter scale beyond measurements any one has ever seen. Except you did not have your vision 2020, you can as well excuse yourself from the pain others are experiencing knowing that 2020 may just not be the year when that much anticipated shift will happen. I feel for you who wrote all that big ambitions ...
New COVID-19 Rules Mean That the Party Is Over for Ibiza Super-Clubs This Season
Sweeping new rules designed to curb “alcohol abuse” on the island also outlaw party boats, pub crawls and balcony jumping. The verdict is in, and the party is over for Ibiza super-clubs this summer. On Sunday (June 21), the Balearic government announced new rules pertaining to nightclubs and outdoor venues for the dance mecca of Ibiza in the context of COVID-19. These regulations ensure that the island’s biggest clubs and other mid-sized venues will stay closed for the 2020 season. For indoor spaces, the rules state that only venues with a stated capacity of 300 or less are allowed to open for the season and will only be allowed to open at one-third capacity. This means there can only be up to 100 people at a time inside a club, that they must be seated and that there can...
Universal Music Opens First-Ever Offices in Israel and Morocco
The new outposts, in Tel Aviv and Casablanca, continue the arms race among the labels of overseas resources sniffing for new talent. After broadening its footprint in Asia in 2019, Universal Music is continuing its global expansion with new offices in Israel and Morocco, marking the label as the first major music company to open standalone operations in either country. The new outposts in the Middle East and North Africa will add to UMG’s existing network of A&R and marketing in more than 60 countries. UMG Morocco will be based in Casablanca, while the Israel office will operate out of Tel Aviv. The moves come one month after Universal officially opened a new hub for hip-hop label Def Jam Africa based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Lagos, Nigeria. And the push into North Africa and...
Olivier Giroud explains decision to extend Chelsea stay
Getty Images Olivier Giroud has opened up on his decision to extend his stay at Chelsea, outlining his plans to “keep winning trophies” and show Frank Lampard “he can count on me”. Giroud completed a surprise move to Chelsea from Arsenal back in January 2018, and has since scored 21 goals in 76 outings for the club across all competitions. The World Cup winner played a key role in the Blues’ run to glory in the Europa League last season, but fell down the squad pecking order after Lampard was drafted in to replace Maurizio Sarri in the Stamford Bridge hot seat. Tammy Abraham has served as Chelsea’s first-choice centre-forward throughout the 2019-20 campaign, with Giroud restricted to just nine Premier League appearances in total. The 33-year-old was tipped to leave the club in January amid...
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